MY LIST
I was tagged by my friend, Ginny. So, here's some stuff about me:

What was I doing 10 years ago?
In 1998 I was working for a college ministry called Campus Outreach. Sometime that year (I don't remember exactly when), I visited Brazil for a week because I was planning on moving there to do ministry. After visiting, I felt the Lord was leading me to stay in Birmingham and work. A week later I met Mitch... and the rest is history.
5 Things on my to do list:
1) Laundry
2) Vacuum (surprise, surprise!)
3) Read/Quiet time
4) exercise
5) Work on simplifying our home
5 snacks I enjoy:
1) Cliff Bars
2) Stoneyfield Farms lowfat vanilla yogurt (yummy!)
3) Peanuts
4) Apple slices and peanut butter
5) A bowl of Kashi's Blueberry cereal
5 Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
1)Give, give, give. "TO whom much is given, much is required." I think I would give most of it away. Sometimes the thought of having that much money scares me!
2)Buy a Prius and a house
3)Buy cars for some friends, help pay off mortgages of friends and family
4)Save for retirement, college, and set up trusts for the kids
5) By a big 'ole piece of land somewhere where we could have a lot of animals, go camping, fishing, etc.
5 bad habits:
1) worry and anxiousness
2) biting my nails
3) seeing the glass as half empty
4) waiting too long to eat and then getting crabby
5) did I mention worry?
5 Places I have lived:
1) Rome, Ga
2) Birmingham, AL
3) Panama City Beach, FL
4) Franklin, TN
5) Belo Horizonte, Brazil
5 Jobs i've had or have:
1) Kennel cleaner at a vet
2) Lifeguard
3) McDonald's
4) Campus Ministry Administrative Staff
5) Personal Trainer (by far my favorite of them all)
I want to know more about (a nice way of saying "you're tagged"):
1) Holly Welch
2) Annie Haralson
3) Amanda Skinner (in all your pre-baby free time!)

Last Sunday the fam was taking a stroll to downtown Franklin. We were just taking it slow and enjoying the day. As we rounded the corner by Starbucks, I glanced in the window and saw a guy sitting there and thought to myself, "Hmmm...I know him from somewhere." I turned to see who he was sitting with and suddenly found myself trying not to freak out and look stupid. Sitting there, just 2 feet away, were Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman! We kept strolling by, trying to act cool like it was no big deal. Once I passed the window, I immediately called my friend Kari who shares my excitement for seeing famous people around town. After that, I think I "strolled" by the window 2 more times just because I am a dork like that:) I was the unassuming girl in the bright red Alabama t-shirt that was obviously not unassuming. But I really didn't care. I mean, how often do you see a major celebrity at the local coffee shop? Pretty cool if you ask me!

Earth Day 2008: A Tribute to All Things Green
I couldn't let Earth Day pass without doing a little blogging about being greener. We are always striving to learn ways of implementing "green" into our everyday life. Here are a few tips from me on being green:

-Check out www.freecycle.org. It's a great way to get rid of things without having to throw them away. Who knows, you may even find something that you are looking for!
-Buy local - Now that warmer weather is here and summer is approaching, it's time to head over to your local farmer's market. Here you can find a great varitey of fruits, veggies, and organic meats that are great for your family to enjoy. Buying organic from the farmer's market is often cheaper (and much fresher) than buying organic from the grocery store. So grab your mesh shopping bags, load the kids in the stroller and support your local farmers!
-Check the air in your tires. You get maximum gas mileage when your tires are filled to their suggested level. And who doesn't need better gas mileage when gas is up to $3.45/gallon! Fill your tires up and save money and the environment!
-Go to www.pluggreen.com and find out what businesses in your area (from dry cleaners to restaurants) are making efforts to be green.
-Go here to find coupons for Seventh Generation and Greenworks cleaning products. I use both and I am a big fan. I especially love the dish soap in Lavender Mint from Seventh Generation. You will also find LOTS of other coupons to help save you some green :)
-And last, but certainly not least, I encourage you all to evaluate your pantry. Beind green is also being healthy. It's about eating more whole foods and not a lot of processed foods. Look for snacks for your kids (and you) where ingredients don't include the words enriched, hydrogenated, and corn syrup. Three months ago we decided to make very effort to give our pantry a makeover. It has taken 3 months, but we are finally to a point where everything in our cabinet and fridge are either organic or, if not organic, not processed. Now, I will tell you that our pantry is not full. Buying organic for us means buying less b/c organic is more expensive. But, we do have enough and that's really all that matters. Check out www.organicvalley.com, www.stoneyfieldfarms.com, and www.laurasleanbeef.com for some coupons on organic stuff. Thankfully walmart carries brands like Back to nature, Kashi, Newman's and Annie's so we don't have to pay a fortune for them elsewhere!

Happy Earth Day, everybody. Go Green!

Attention music lovers: I need your help!!


Sunday night, Hubs and I got an opportunity to go and hear John Eldridge speak. It was an encouraging evening as we listened to him speak about growing in intimacy with God. One thing he dicussed was getting quiet before the Lord. All of us are unique as to what draws us in to that quiet place. For some it's worship. For some it's reading scripture or a book. For some it's getting out into nature. I personally struggle often with being quiet. It's very hard for me to get to a place of rest before the Lord because my mind is racing, the phone is ringing, the dryer is buzzing and letting me know that there are lots of clothes that need to be folded. Hearing John talk about finding "your thing" that draws you close was great for me. I remembered that worship is my thing. Oh, how music speaks to my soul! I find myself often listening to the kids music and rarely listening to the music that truly lifts my soul. Which leads to the reason why I write. I would like to know what your favorite's are. Artists or songs, what worship music is out there that i'm missing out on? I seriously can't tell you the last time I uploaded (or downloaded?which is it?) a song on itunes or put any new song on my iPod. I know many of you are in tune with what's new and what are just great classics, so I would love to hear your music suggestions. Bring 'em on!

In honor of Spring Fashion Fiesta
...I post today about the dream I have for my closet. Boo Mama had this going on a few days ago, but today is the first day I have gotten around to it. So, here goes... the dream I have for my closet.

I will start off my saying that I have lived most of my life in the "the more I have in my closet the better" mindset. So, I filled my closet with some things that I really liked, but mostly with things that I found that were on sale and looked pretty decent. This really wasn't the way to go because that left me being really excited about what I was wearing only 2 days of the week (if that!).

One of the best things for me in having 2 babies so close together was, by the time I lost weight from baby #2, mostly everything in my closet was out of style or too dressy for me to wear as a SAHM. So, at the end of last summer I literally gave away practically everything in my closet... And started completely over. A bit scary for this girl who really doesn't like to shop, but a bit refreshing too. I managed to get some great stuff for winter, but now that summer is approaching I am staring at an empty closet. So, this is what my dream looks like for my spring/summer clothes:
-skirts - I love wearing skirts during the spring and summer. They are cooler than shorts and I think they are more comfortable. I have found a skirt online that hits just at the knee and is a soft, flowy cotton. If it's cute I will definitely get 2 of them (1 black and 1 white b/c those colors never go out of style) If I like them, I will let you know so you can get one, too!
-tank tops - I love sleeveless shirts and tanks. I am broader in the shoulders, so wearing these is more flattering to my figure than regular tee's. However, I will still gather a few tee's (at least one white) to have around.
-flips - I just got these a few weeks ago and they are my new best friend. Mitch and I have talked for 2 years about getting some and both finally got a pair. We love our flips in the summertime!
***This is a must for me these days: Anything I buy, shirt or skirts, must go with at least 2 other items in my closet. This way I have more options and I really get my money's worth of wear.

Ultimately, my dream closet consists of clothes that I am excited to wear. I would much rather have a few nicer items that I love to wear than a closet full of things that are just okay. To me, less is definitely more when it comes to clothes! What about you?

OPRAH

I'm sure many of you have seen this, but thought I would post it here in case you haven't. It's about 6 minutes long, but really seems to show Oprah's thoughts on God and Christianity. It breaks my heart that so many women look to her for wisdom and understanding. Oh, how they are being misguided! I would love to hear your thoughts after you watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW4LLwkgmqA

It's funny how kids change things in ways you wouldn't expect. I used to love the smell of fresh cut grass. Now, instead of running outside to take in the smell, when I hear someone cutting the grass I totally stress out because i'm afraid it's going to wake someone up from a nap. I used to love a good thunderstorm. The sounds of the heavy rain and thunder were relaxing to me. Now, instead of snuggling up in bed to rest and enjoy the sounds, when a thunderstorm arrives I snuggle up in bed next to my 3 year old (and her 8 stuffed animals) and focus on comforting her so she can rest. And, as most of you know, I love love love a nice hot bath. Now, instead of relaxing with a good book while soaking in the suds, I am usually dodging little hands and legos while I try to do a decent job shaving my legs. But, in light of all that, I wouldn't trade the way things are. I love that I get to watch my daughter fall asleep with a smile on her face because she feels loved and safe. I love that I get to watch my son push his little lawn mower around the yard and smile with pride because he thinks he's helping out daddy. I love...well, I love my bath and I am still looking for the silver lining for that one!

Easter -

We woke up Easter morning and enjoyed family time reading "A Sad Day and A Happy Day" (for those of you who aren't familiar with the Read Aloud Bible Stories, go here. We have really enjoyed them) and talking about what Jesus did for us. Later, we hunted some eggs and then kids enjoyed their chocolate bunny. Can I just tell you the Neily ate her bunny in 3 minutes! This girl loves her chocolate!

Here are the kiddos before they hunted their eggs:

And this is them saying "Cheers!" as they toasted their bunnies. They do "cheers" with everything from milk to legos. It is really quite humerous.

I tried to get a picture of them hugging and this was the best I got:

A Trip to Radnor

Just 20 minutes from our house is this great place, Radnor Lake. It is a beautiful lake as well as a wildlife preserve. They have a trail around the lake as well as trails through the surrounding wooded areas. It has become one of our favorite places to visit because we see so many neat things when we go. When we went yesterday Mitch and I were a bit overzealous and took the kids on a hike around the entire lake. It ended up taking us over 2 hours and by the end we had the kids on our shoulders hoping that the end was just around the next turn. We were all pooped, but it was worth it. We saw lots of turtles, 3 snakes, a woodpecker, and a few other animals. He are some pics of our adventure:

Neily hears a Who!

We saw this owl just as we began our walk. Neily was really excited to see an owl (and so was I):

All the turtles in a row.

Can you tell this is a woodpecker? This is one of those times when I really wish I had a better camera!

Neily running to catch up with me. She has the sweetest face.

Jake on the bridge. One of his favorite things to do is throw rocks and sticks into the water.

Dad and the kiddos resting with a snack. This was towards the end of the hike, so no one was really in the mood to say "Cheese!"

Last week we were in Birmingham and had a pre-Easter egg hunt with cousin Elizabeth. The kids enjoyed seeing each other and had a ball hunting eggs and eating candy.

Just before heading out to hunt eggs:



Hunting Eggs



I couldn't resist putting up this picture. It cracks me up! (no pun intended:))

All Done! Poor Jake smashed in the middle. With 2 girl cousins and a sister, I have a feeling he better get used to it!

A New Plan -
Thanks to her, I realized that I can have comment moderation set up on my blog. This is where I get to see all comments before they are posted and I can approve or disapprove of them. I thought I would try this first before going the "you have to log in before you read my blog" route. Hopefully this will do the trick.

On a lighter note, how wonderful has the weather been lately? It seems like within a week we went from "it's so cold and windy that it make my face hurt" to "it's so pleasant outside that I could stay here for hours." And that's just what we have done. We live about 1/2 mile from a great park and have been there several days this past week. We have literally played outside for hours, taken lots of walks, picked countless daffodils and made lots of mud pies. These are the days when I am so grateful that I stay home and I don't have to miss out on enjoying creation with my kids. What a blessing!

Will you still come and visit me?
So, I keep getting unwelcomed comments on my blog. I am considering setting it up where only people I choose can view my blog, which means you would have to log in to view my blog. Is that something you all would do? It frustrates me to no end that people keep doing this. One reason why I think I should have a blog log-in is because I don't want my blog to lead these people to your blog. Let me know if you will still stop by and I will add your name to the e-mail/permission list to view my blog. Thanks, friends!

SNOW DAY!!

This morning we woke up to more snow than we have seen since we moved to Nashville. It started last night and snowed off and on through the night. We ended up with around 3-4" this morning and the kids both had a blast playing in it. Sadly, the snow started to melt around noon and is now almost gone... but it sure was fun while it lasted!

Bloggers Beware...
On Tuesday, someone by the name "Mer" left a comment on my blog. Being that I have several friends name Meredith, I clicked on the name to see the profile. When I did that, it automatically put a virus on the computer and a few hours later caused it to crash. Unfortunately I was in Birmingham at the time and all this happened on my parents computer. (Too bad it wasn't mine b/c it's such a piece anyway!) They are in the process of getting their computer up and running, so hopefully this scenario will have a happy ending. I wanted to mention this to all of you so you can be on guard. Make sure you know exactly who someone is before checking their profile. Take it from me who learned this the hard way!

And for those of you who would like to see a picture of Jen's new baby girl, Anne Thomas, here she is. I think she's got Elizabeth's nose and Jen's eyes.

The kids and I visited Botanical Gardens in Birmingham today. The weather was great and we enjoyed a picnic lunch and a stroll around the gardens. Here are some pics from the day.

When I started this blog, I told myself that I wasn't going to be one to not blog often. I was going to blog every other day at least. Well, that obviously hasn't happened. I would love to blog more, but either time or computer issues prevent me from doing so. For whatever reason I feel like I need to put pictures up to keep my blog interesting. Since I can't do that from my computer, I just don't blog. My goal is to overcome that and blog regardless!

So, today I don't have too much to share. Just that I think I am obsessed with vacuuming. I vacuum most every day. Sometimes 2 times a day. I know, i know. Stop the madness! Blame it on having 2 cats. Blame it on having a child with allergies/asthma. Blame it on having this fabulous vacuum (thanks to a gift from a friend and a coupon). I honestly enjoy it.

Hello, my name is Allison and i'm a vacuumaholic...

I'm sitting here this morning with a cup of coffee watching the snowflakes float to the ground. One of my favorite things about living here in Franklin is getting to see it snow more often. Rarely is it enough snow to bring things to a hault for a few days, but my favorite part is just watching it fall. It's so peaceful, so beautiful.
I don't have much to write about today. I'm just grateful that my family is well and things are back to normal. Since I don't have much to write, head over to http://www.conorbootheandgirls.blogspot.com/. Boothe is a mere acquaintance of mine here in Franklin, but I enjoy reading her blog. She lost a baby at the end of last year to trisomy 18 and often writes to share her struggles of figuring out what life looks like after such a painful loss. I love her honesty and vulnerability. She is a very talented writer. Check her out if you get a chance.

8 Days and 7 nights...
sounds like a description of some fabulous vacation getaway, doesn't it? Well, not quite. That's how long we were battling the stomach bug here at the Stephens. Mitch had it for just one day, but the kids had it for a week. Thankfully mommy was spared:) It has been quite a long week for us, but we are so grateful that it's behind us. And in light of all that sickness, the whole no sweets thing has been really easy!

I was reading a friend's blog the other day and read this quote which was very helpful for me:

Don't judge God's love by your circumstances, but judge your circumstances by God's love.

Just hours after I read that my car didn't start and, long story short, we had to pay a lot to get it fixed. I struggled all day because they money we used to pay for my car was the money we were going to use to buy our new computer at the end of the month. I was really trying to be grateful that we had the money to pay for the car, but inwardly mourning because I so wanted that new computer. Really bad. Really really bad. I had a choice here: to believe that God didn't love me enough to let me get that computer OR to beleive God loved me enough to provide money for our car without us having to go into debt to fix it. I chose to dwell on the latter perspective. To be honest here I must share that money is one of the main trust issues I have with the Lord. There's a song that opens with the line, "I have faith in the bank, and money in my heart." I wish that weren't true of me, but sometimes it is. The "faith in the bank" part is what I struggle with most. If we have enough money in savings, it'll be okay. If we have enough money for a nice down payment, then we will be able to get a pretty good house. Sometimes my mentality totally takes God out of the picture, but at the end of the day I realize how lonely that place is and I am brought to my knees asking for forgiveness and for the faith to trust in Him alone, not in a figure I read on our monthly statement. I am so grateful that this life isn't as good as it gets. So grateful. Oh, how hard (and depressing) life would be without the promise of eternity with Him. "Better is one day in his courts than a thousand elsewhere."

Welcome to the world, little girl!

My sister Jen and her husband Chris welcomed their new baby girl on Friday, Feb. 1. Anne Thomas Simon was born by c-section Friday afternoon and weighed in at a whopping 9 lbs. 9oz and she was 22" long. Anne is Jen's middle name and Thomas is my mom's maiden name. Jen was suprised by having a c-section, but the baby had turned and the doctors were unable to get her in the proper position for delivery. Both baby and mom are home now and are doing well. I will post some pictures this weekend.