a spirit of POWER, LOVE and of SELF-DISCIPLINE.

For those of you feeling weak today. Feeling like you have no control over your decisions. Feeling heartbreak. Feeling out of control. Feeling like it hurts too much. Feeling like you can never love again. Feeling hopeless. Feeling worthless. Just pull out your Bible to Timothy to be reminded what you are equipped with.

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.                            - 2 Timothy 1:7

(the Bible doesn't use exclamation marks, but if it did, I would end this sentence in one. Just saying.)

 

I Just Don't Know How She Does It!

During this transition break, I've been so lucky to be able to spend some great time with my niece and nephew down at my sister and her husband's house. And during the last couple weeks, I've been able to get a true inside scoop on what the role of a mommy + wife looks like. Let's just say, I'm more than ever happy to have the title of auntie!

As I rolled out of bed this morning to click-click-boom. No, not a Black Eyed Peas song, but my sister's footsteps then the door closing and she left the house. My cell phone read 6:44 am.
Wait, didn't I just wake up just an hour or two ago to this same woman up with her hungry, crying 4 month old?

And here I lay just two hours later, laying in bed amazed by what my sister goes through on a daily basis. With a very busy two and a half year old and four month month old already fed, dressed and buckled up in car, she was on her way to drop them off at daycare, then headed to work.
The next 9 hours she shows the world what she's made of (again!); my sister kicks major butt at what she does. I can say totally unbiased, she's a highly valuable paralegal/right hand to a great attorney. Did I mention this is daily? This is a daily routine!
Then it's back to daycare to grab the kiddios, bring them home to start dinner for her and her husband in between laundry, tidying up, dishes, bathes, paying bills, etc.. And oh yeah, it's about a 30 minute drive from daycare to home.
Didn't you have the most horrible sleep last night and have to wake up 3+ times with your baby? How are you awake? Better yet, how are you awake and choosing to grocery shop and cook dinner at home vs. grabbing fast food?!
How do you go to work with a smile on your face?
Where do you find time to wash your face?
How do you not attack anybody who makes a wrong gesture towards you?
Do you take naps on your lunch break?

I'm in a confused awe....daily....watching this happen.



Now I know some women might do the same thing on top of having a life-threatening illness, husbands overseas or doing such as a single mother, but today, today my sister gets the credit.
 I could make this post a lot longer but in short, I just have to say, I Just Don't Know How She Does It!
Ruth, you're amazing and you continue to make my jaw drop daily.
Thank you for being an awesome role model to me. I love you.

Nanny Websites to find families

So just like in any job, when people ask you "how did you get to be ______",  many people will ask me, "So how do you get to be a . . . nanny." haaaa!!! I love it!! It's awkward. Why? Because nobody aspires to be a...............nanny.
So that I don't have to squeeze all these websites down on the back of a business card or receipt and so that you don't have to worry about losing that small piece of paper, I thought I'd post it for both parties convenience.

So if you're just starting out or in your first year or two, these are the websites I'd recommend when finding a family.
Most of these websites the families have to pay for, the nanny does not. Some of these websites the famillies can browse for free and but in order to obtain contact information, they have to pay.

www.gonannies.com : GoNannies is actually where I found my first family, The Dorseys in 2008. I don't know how I stumbled upon it but it worked. I think it's a good price point (around $125) for families to join. This is also where I found Kent in 2010.

www.nannies4hire.com : I would rate Nannies4hire and Enannysource very similar to GoNannies. Even though it's been a few years since I've been on either one, I remember them both having easy navigating and browsing features.

www.enannysource.com : Enannysource, a long with the rest of the sites, has an internal mail/message system which makes it very nice for your protection and privacy. When you receive mail at your nanny account, you will get an email to your gmail, hotmail, etc. letting you know.

www.care.com : This website reminds me of upgraded, more luxurious (and safer!) Craigslist. It lets you be more specific to the location you're looking in. In addition to childcare, it offers services like pet sitting, elderly care, etc.

I'm Wide Awake!

I'm Wide Awake! But only because it's the night...or morning of 2012 Minnesota Waterfowl (Duck) Opener!! Everybody here at the HOuse's house is pretty giddy!

Tara Larson, California girl hits the small town!

Tara lands in MN - ready to rock!

Last weekend my girlfriend Tara Larson from Thousand Oaks, California hit the Minnesota soil to visit and see where I grew up!

She showed me she was ready to go when she came off the plane wearing this raccoon hat! Surprised? Not one bit!

It was a blast for me to watch her experience Minnesota - everything was so new to her!

She shot her first gun (a bb fun), she watched my nephew Drew get a morning dove, learned about Chief Wanonga in Battle Lake, wild rides (sitting on the hood of the car while my dad drives fast), Bargain Bazaar, accents, lakes everywhere, the most interesting little "fights" with my dad.

I'll never forget as we drove through Melby and Tara looked at me with the most serious face and said, "How are you so well rounded?"
I couldn't stop laughing!

Here's just a quick snapshot of a few pictures of her visit...






 





Tara & My Mommy,
City Restaurant, Ashby, MN

Singing Karoake at the Olson Fall Festival

 

Here we are having our first drink

 at the Melby Outpost!

 

She even got some art lessons from my Daddio!

www.johnhouseart.com

 

A ton more pictures off my camera to come!

 

 



The greatest among you shall be your SERVANT

I received this cute little set of cards from my mom for my 25th birthday. The set includes 52 cards (one for each week) with a card holder that says "Walk with the Word" at the base.

You put it somewhere you can see it daily and dwell the passage.

As you can see by the top of this card, here's the card from Week 1.

 

Its been a great gift and I actually passed it on when I moved back to Minnesota. I hope Jacquelyn, my friend's mom enjoys it as much as I did! Jacquelyn is a wonderful Christian woman whose been a very positive influence and like a second mom to me during my time in Westlake.

 

 

"The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." - Mathew 23:11-12

Esphesians 5:10