The Gift of Time

If you're like me, you think about time alot. How much time will something take? Do I have enough time to get something done? What time do I need to wake up? For me time is something that I've always thought alot about and yet never seemed to have enough of. When I was teaching, I felt that I was always working and never had any time, but at the same time knew that I needed to put that time into my career so that my kids would do well. Was it worth it for my class? Yes. Was it hard? YES. I can honestly remember thinking, I'm so busy that I would give anything to have a little more time! (In the end I did this by giving up teaching so that I would have more time to help Ryan with youth and enjoy our lives!) One thing that I resolved to do early on in my adulthood is to only go to the grocery store once a week so that I don't spend more time than needed making multiple trips. Sometimes I forget to buy things that I need for the week, but 99% of the time I think, oh well!, and I make do. I've never starved as a result of this. I just find something different to eat.

Another area that I've always focused on is scheduling. My friend Ashley reminded me that once when I was young and stupid and focused on over busyness I said to her, "I work out. I go to class. I do homework. I don't have time for friends!" Oh, I'm so thankful that God shifted my perspective and that Ashley stuck around to be my friend anyway! Thanks Ash!

This past summer I felt was so wonderful because I was finally given the gift of time. Since I wasn't teaching and was going through the transition of moving...plus had some fun vacation time... I had about 3 months of free time. It wasn't completely free- I did do massive amounts of packing, unpacking, and had some scheduled things. But for the most part, I had time. It was AMAZING. I had time to read. I had time to cook. I had time to relax by the pool. I had time to be with friends and family that I love. I had time to spend studying my Bible, relishing in God's truth, and praying. It was like finally getting a chance to reprioritize and do what really mattered to me.

Summer finally had to come to an end, and I was blessed to get a great job. One thing that I already love so much about my job is that it still allows me to have some time! Yes, I go to work and have responsibilities, but my afternoon and nights and weekends are free to me to use for the things that I love and feel are so important. I love getting to sit and eat with my husband without feeling rushed. I love going to church events and not feeling like I have to rush home so that I can then rush to get the next thing done. Ironically sometimes I still get the instincts of an over busy person and I have to stop myself and realize that I don't have to live like that.

Please don't confuse my love of time with laziness. I definitely do not cherish laziness. I cherish allowing myself to let God fill my schedule in wonderful ways rather than forcing myself to preschedule every moment of my time. One way that God is doing this right now is through the book The Hour That Changed The World. Our church is studying this book as our pastor teaches Scripture that supports the ideas and our small groups discuss it and what it would look like to apply the ideas in our lives. Basically, the book is challenging us to gradually increase our prayer time to 60 minutes each day. WHAT? 60 minutes? That's a whole hour! .... That was my initial reaction. But even though it seems hard, I keep thinking about how God could use that time to change my heart and my relationship with Christ. (Also, all 60 minutes does not have to happen at the same time, and it can happen in natural ways, like when you're driving by yourself). I can testify that even on busy days, when I spend time with God, I don't regret it. I never walk away from a quite time thinking that it was a waste. Especially when I'm focused on seeking God and not just checking off a to-do list. I AM NOT saying that you have to spend 1 hour in prayer ever day to glorify God or be a Christian. However, it is a interesting idea that really makes me look at my perspective of time. My friend Lynne, who I met and did a Bible study with in Kenya, once said to me, " Kate, all of your time belongs to God anyway. Who are we to tell God that we can't give him part of it to spend just with Him?"

So I'll continue to pray about this. I don't think that if I spend 60 minutes praying it makes me good. And I promise that I don't think that if you don't it makes you bad. Lately, I've just been so thankful for time and I wanted to share this with whoever wanted to read it. So thanks for taking up a few minutes of your time to read this. :)

Whirly Ball

Picture this. A plastic whiffle ball comes flying at you in the air. You reach to get it with your small, plastic lacrosse stick. You catch it! You cruise at 2mph down the lane in your bumper car. You toss the ball up into the air with your stick and it hits the small 1 ft. scoring area of the scoreboard! Your teams wins! This is whirly ball.

Except for me it went more like this:
A plastic whiffle ball comes flying at you in the air. You hope that it doesn't hit you in the face when you try to catch it. You miss. You try to recover by scooping it up off the floor with your small, plastic lacrosse stick. You notice your stick is kind of broken. You try to cruise at 2mph but somehow keep getting stuck against a wall or in a corner. You helplessly shout for someone from your team to come give you a bump to get your car going again. They ignore you because you're not a true benefit to the team anyway. By chance you start moving again. By chance you actually get the ball. You throw it at the score board. You miss. So much for your one moment in time....

This posting is a little late, but about a week ago Ryan and I went to play whirlyball with Redeemer Student Ministries. Ryan, of course, played like a pro, much like the top description. I admire Ryan's athletic ability to excell in any sport, even if he's only played it 1 other time. I hope that one day our kids get this gift from him. Despite my awkwardness at the game, I did have a really fun time. After realizing how often I would get stuck when I tried to play the game intensely, I spent more time just enjoying driving the small bumper car around the magnetic rink. I like to imagine what driving would be like if we all drove bumper cars everywhere we went!

We were so happy that lots of our youth came out to play! We love our youth kids and enjoy any chance we get to hang out with them. It was a fun trip to Dallas and I hope everyone had a great time!

Offer me your hand, and I will give my heart...a tribute to Mr. and Mrs. Zack Morris

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On our way home from church today, Ryan and I were talking about the dangers of paint balling. In passing I said, " I can't believe Zack and Slater went paint balling right before the wedding in Las Vegas." My husband is awesome, because he immediately knew that I was of course talking about the Saved by the Bell wedding of Zack and Kelly that premiered on NBC in 1994. He then tried to persuade me- wrongly- that they didn't not go paint balling. Well, no need to continue the debate- because we own the DVD of Saved by the Bell Wedding in Las Vegas! Yes. We own all of the Saved by the Bell seasons on DVD, except for the weird New Class that no one really cared about. So we quickly put the DVD in at home, despite the fact that football was on!

This is one thing I love about my husband. He enjoys watching and laughing at Saved by the Bell as much as I do! In fact, after we first met, he asked to be my friend on myspace and sent me a message commenting that he noticed that I had said in my profile that I watched the show. I responded by telling him that I was still looking for my Zack Morris. He commented back that he was also looking for his Kelly Kapowski. And there it was. The moment that I knew he was my soul mate!

I really do love that we can sit around and watch a cheesy old show and have so much fun together. He makes me laugh and is sometimes a crazy prankster. He is quite the charmer. He's my very own Zack Morris.

"Dunder Mifflin, This is Pam. "

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"Dunder Mifflin, This is Pam." Well, I love The Office so much that I've decided to follow in Pam Beasley's footsteps. Not really, but I did start my career as an administrative assistant today! Here is my story:
1. Back in March I decided that I would not be teaching this year. Ryan is the Director for Student Ministries at our church and I wanted the free time and flexibility to help him. I desire to spend time living life with the girls in our youth group. I also want time to reach out to our apartment community. And I want to have time to be in - AND ENJOY- our couple's Bible study And I help Ryan put together some of the administrative stuff related to youth. AND I want to be a happy wife. Therefore, we decided that I would not teach. Also because we were moving to Roanoke, so it didn't make since logistically for me to stay at my old elementary school, so I'd have to at least look for a different teaching job.
2. From March until now Ryan and I have both prayed that the Lord would give us wisdom for jobs. He needed another part time job to supplement his salary from the church. I knew that I probably needed to do something. I wasn't quite sure what. I was interested in doing administrative office work or maybe do something else for the school system besides being a full time classroom teacher.
3. We prayed and our families prayed and our church prayed and our friends prayed. God was listening- we're confident in this!- but it was a LONG season of waiting. We are so thankful for all of the prayers that were offered up for us and for learning how to be patient. Its not fun to learn to be patient, but it is good.
4. This past Thursday we finally came to the conclusion that we would both be "Professional Substitutes" and try to sub as many days as possible. For the first time in many months we felt a complete peace. We knew that we might have to draw from our savings sometimes for now, but that was something we finally gave over to God as we realized that we didn't need to hold on tightly to money (neither did we plan to be irresponsible).
5. Friday morning I got a call about a possible job from a family that had visited our church 2 weeks before.
6. I interviewed Saturday morning. I was interested and thought I would enjoy the job, but I was unsure because it was a full time schedule. I felt strongly that I should have some afternoon time to meet up with youth kids and others. I liked the job but wanted to use discernment so that I wouldn't end up in a pattern of over busyness.
7. The woman I interviewed with called me an hour later and offered for me to do the same job, but said they would be flexible so I could only work part time!!!!! The hours she offered were 8am-3pm.... exactly what I had prayed for!!! Wow. It is awesome to see how God had this planned and I didn't even know.

What I Do Now:
I started this morning. Today was a little different than normal because there were Internet/ printer problems. But basically I'll be doing some customer help, Internet stuff, making manuals, etc. All the fun office stuff you could ever imagine!!!!! The company creates and promotes professional development sessions for public companies. I work inside a small historic house that has been turned into an office in downtown Keller. I can't explain it very clearly but I am looking forward to learning how to do my job well! Thanks to everyone I've already talked to for all of the encouraging words!

I think you have the wrong number....

A few weeks ago we celebrated my Grandpa's 90th birthday! My grandpa is such a positive man, he's always enjoyed life to the fullest. I talk with him every week on Sunday. So this Sunday I called him on the regular number and he didn't answer and there was no voicemail. I had a 2nd number saved on my cell phone. I called it. A man answered. "Hi Grandpa! It's Kate!" The man replies, "Kate, this is not your grandpa. I think you have the wrong number." Then we proceeded with the customary apology by me and explanation by him about why I might have dialed the wrong number. We probaby talked for about 5 minutes. What a nice man. I went through my phone numbers in my phone and deleted this wrong number. I decided to just wait and call Grandpa later. Maybe 3 hours later I went through my recent call list and pushed the redial for Grandpa. Oops! Somehow I called the SAME WRONG NUMBER! How did this happen since I deleted the number? Apparently it was deleted from the phone book but not the dialed number list. The man was so nice and we had another conversation which lasted a couple of minutes. I just felt so silly! After that I didn't want to risk any possibility of misdialing again, so I just waited until Grandpa called me later. Ha... has this ever happened to anyone else??

We did have a fun family party to celebrate Grandpa's 90th! I hope this is a year of blessings for him.

On Sunday - the same days as the wrong number conversations- we celebrated Ryan's grandmother' 80th birthday! Happy Birthday Mamaw! We drove down to Lindale, TX (hometown of Miranda Lambert :) ) for a rocking celebration at the retirement community. Here is Mamaw with Ryan and his siblings, Amanda and Greg.

The best part of any birthday celebration is playing with our cute nieces! We love Kiersi and Kayden!

Here is the birthday girl with the whole family. Ryan and I are so blessed to have wonderful grandparents who have always reminded us that family is so important!

Maybe next time I'll just keep driving...

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Last night I drove up to Denton to hang out with some friends. On the way up there I realized that I needed to stop and get gas for my car so I wouldn't have to do it on my way home in the dark. I immediately thought of how much I appreciate that if Ryan and I are in the car together he always pumps my gas. For some people that may seem silly or old fashioned, but I love it!

I also have to share honestly that the first time my mom ever made me put gas in our car after I got my permit, I cried. Yes. CRIED. I told her it was too embarrassing and that somebody might see me. Hahaha, I look back on that moment with shame that I was so young and spoiled.

I decided to get gas at the Racetrack that we usually went to. I got out of the car. Eww. It was the kind of hot day that immediately makes you sweat. I realized that instead of opening my gas pump I had opened my trunk. Oops. Easy mistake to fix. I swiped my card. I went through the series of yes/ no questions that each take 30 seconds to process. Finally the screen pops up with "transaction interrupted." So I went through the process again... still sweating... only to get the same results. I was tired of standing there so I got back in my car to drive down the street to Quick Trip. As I started driving I heard a clanking sound. I looked out the window and realized that I left my gas cap unscrewed and the little gas door open. I guess I could have pulled up into a parking spot, but no, I immediately just get out of my car. As I'm standing there fixing the cap situation I realize that I have created a traffic block in the gas station parking lot. Oh my gosh, this situation couldn't get any more awkward! Ahh... so I ended up getting gas later. It was much more uneventful.

Cooking with the Bradleys

Since my blog title is Breakfast with the Bradleys, I figure I should mention food every once in a while. Before moving to our new apartment, I did most of our grocery shopping at Super Target. I love Super Target! In my experience, it was always far superior to Walmart, though I know people who will point out that Walmart is cheaper. Maybe sometimes, but it was always more crowded, stinkier, dirtier, undecorated, and had fluorescent lighting. So I generally refused to go to Walmart.

After moving, Super Target is not really an option because it is too far away for a grocery trip. I have settled on this. I started shopping at Walmart but was proven right in thinking that even though its cheap, part of the cheapness is due to quality. Especially with fruit and vegetables. So yesterday Ryan and I took a date to Central Market! I was expecting it to be outrageously expensive and maybe it is depending on what you buy, but we purchased produce on sale for the same or cheaper prices than Walmart.

I know that Walmart is more practical for weekly use, but its nice to know that an occasional produce excursion to Central Market won't break the bank!

One fun thing we got at Central Market was filet mignon. Yes, it was a little pricey, but we actually got 4 small filets for a much cheaper price than going out to eat. We spent our Saturday night enjoying a fine home cooked meal of steak, potatoes, and golden glazed beets and carrots. It was amazing and way cheaper than it would cost us to go out to eat even at a cheaper place like Chili's. I was super happy with the way this meal turned out!

Another thing I made this week was sugar cookies that were shaped like cupcakes. I saw these cookie cutters at Crate and Barrel a few weeks ago and was super excited when my mom surprised me with them as a gift! I decorated them using Betty Crocker rainbow chip icing (so much better than Pillsbury's funfetti!) and made it so that a rainbow chip was always right on the top of the "cupcake"

I made the cookies because we had some church friends over that night. Okay, I actually made the cookies because they seemed cute and delicious, but it was fun to share them with other people! Since they looked like cupcakes I served them on my cupcake tier. They look awesome for about 1 hour in the afternoon. Sadly, they were too heavy (or not as crunchy as they could have been), and after a while they started drooping and falling apart. Oh well, they still tasted great!

And my last creation from last week was the "potato-tinis" that I made when my best friend Erica joined us for a Bacherlorette viewing. I made mashed potatoes and served them in a martini glass, topped with sour cream, cheese, and chives! I stole this idea from my friend Kathryn's wedding reception but it was very easy to recreate and entertaining to serve and eat!

I love that I have more time to cook in the summer!