What time is it?

"You will never "find" time for anything. If you want time, you must make it."

Charles Bruxton

 

The last few weeks have been such a blur! I have mostly been traveling. I definitely love it, but it's hard to be two places at once! We have had a bit of drama in the world of Houndstooth, but everything is turning out in the end.  I have rarely had to work weekends since I started last August, so the fact that I have to now for a short time is nothing to complain about. I am still beyond blessed and have found that I am touching these employees' lives more than I ever did (or at least ever knew) as a "teacher".  I have been going 90 to nothing with lots on my mind.  I have been very tired, but still so very thankful for the job that I am doing.  I am learning and being challenged and that feels good. Rewarding. 

 

How can this not make you laugh!?

This is Danielle.  She is one crazy gal!  I dropped my water bottle right before heading out of work one day and it broke and spilled all over the floor.  She looked for maintenance to clean it up, but spotted no one.  She saw this over by Baby Gap and decided she would just borrow it for a bit! She came back and cleaned up MY mess and returned the cart.  No one was looking for it or even noticed.  I was laughing so hard that I couldn't even help her clean it up. These girls keep me going!

Ashley (friend and General Manager of Houndstooth) and I decided a few weeks back that we would go on a week long "tour" to Fort Smith, Little Rock, North Little Rock, Hot Springs, and Jonesboro.  What a week!  And it couldn't have come at a better time.  We were much needed.  Our first stop was in Jonesboro.  We stayed the night because we knew we had a lot of work to do and only a small amount of time to do it.  We were only left with 2 employees after all was said and done.  They are Kelli and Kelly (very confusing over the phone).  These girls went above and beyond to help cover shifts.  They were quick learners, too!   We were able to hire 2 more girls while we were there and I am heading to JB tomorrow and Wednesday to train them.  I am so excited.  I love training. If you want the job done right, you have to TEACH them yourself! :) I think within a couple of weeks Jonesboro will be running smoothly again, and hopefully better than ever.  I had a little therapy while I was there. I don't know when it happened, but somewhere along the way at Houndstooth I got to where I LOVED to fold.  It's now my favorite thing to do (well besides getting know what's going on in the Team Leader's lives) when I go to locations, but it's usually the last thing I get to work on.  Not the case here in Jonesboro. :)

ahhhhh.....I slept really great that night! ;)

We worked with the girls there on their folding and it didn't take long for them to catch on. 

Kelli R. is proud of her section! Their store has never looked so good!

Kelly M. is taking it one stack at a time....but she sent this next one to me later that night......

She's making progress!  These are long sleeves and are definitely no picnic!

Ashley and I decided that since it would just be the two of 'em for the next week or so until I could get back to help and train the new girls, that we should get them some snacks to munch on.  I can't wait to go back and have a few myself! ;)

Lots of goodies in there!

All in all it was a good trip.  We have decided to make this a semi-annual event! I wish it could've last 2 weeks, but I will take what I can get! The only kink was that we had to head home a little bit early on Tuesday because Chris informed me that he was headed to the ER!  Wait. What?!

Yep.  My poor babe has been having severe stomach pains that were keeping him up all night and eventually very nauseous.  He thought he might black out at any moment so he headed across the street to the UAMS ER.  He got there at around 5:30, I didn't get there until about 9:00, and we were finally able to leave around 12:30 a.m.  We suspected an ulcer from all of this med school stress, but the doctor thinks it is Acid Reflux.  The gave him lots of meds through and IV, monitored him, and waited for lab results.  He is on several prescriptions and is feeling some relief.  He is not 100%, but will go to the doc to be seen again if conditions don't improve.  He may have to have an endoscopy to see what's really going on in his stomach, but we are hoping it will not get to that point. He had several friends show up at the emergency room (even though they could/should have been studying for exams) and several more praying for him.  We are surrounded by such caring friends. His mom stayed there, too until I got in from Jonesboro. She is amazing.  I will keep you posted on his progress.  He is avoiding spicy foods, but is at least sleeping better and not feeling nauseated.

Over the month of April a lot has happened! I stopped drinking.......

Yep.  My beloved, Diet Coke.

After a brief conversation with the lovely Kim Allen, I was hit by a ton of bricks.....this stuff (aspartame and other artificial sugars) is doing TERRIBLE things to my stomach/body.  I went a few days only drinking water and Sprite and then the lady at the front desk of the UAMS workout center convinced me to cut the carbonation out ALTOGETHER!  ahhh! But it's been about 4 weeks and I am feeling great!! I feel like my skin is looking better, I am enjoying water now (even craving it...UNHEARD OF for me), my restaurant bills are cheaper, and it feels like a treat to drink lemonade or juice every once in a while! I never thought I could see myself drinking water so much, but it is definitely helping and I have even shed a few lbs.  And even better news, I can count on one hand how many withdrawal headaches I have had.  Oh yeah, so not only was it diet coke, and then carbonation, but then I decided to go ahead and cut out the caffeine while I was at it! Why not?! And the craziest part is that I really haven't craved any of it.  It was was hard getting used to drinking water with breakfast, but I have gotten used to it and can tell a huge difference in my body. 

The girls and I had a clothing exchange during our Wednesday night dinner a few weeks back.  We had all gathered things from our closet to give to Good Will but decided to let each other look before we took it in.  It was a huge success!  We all got some pretty cute things!

And no, Annie, I didn't give my favorite bag away...I just brought all my stuff over in it. :)

Ian and Crystal had a couples shower a few weekends ago! The theme was Fajita's and Margarita's!  It was so much fun.  We were a mess as usual...

We all had on some pretty fab shoes that night!

Never.

Ever.

A.

Dull.

Moment.

After this fun night we headed to Del and Chelsea's new patio equipped with an outdoor fireplace for a fun game of Apples to Apples.  We played until near midnight.  It fun having friends to "do" life with. :)

 

 

God is doing some major things in my life lately.  Things just feel different.  It's a good kind of different though.  I am learning to be more Kingdom minded.  As I attend BSF more and read the Word more, things become so much clearer to me.  What would normally present itself as a "problem", now comes in the form of a "trial", and then shortlty after a "triumph".  Such an amazing feeling.  If you haven't ever heard about Bible Study Fellowship and want to know more, go to the website and/or shoot me a message.  I would love to tell you how it's helped in my walk with God.  Next year we are studying the book of Isaiah and I cannot wait.  We are finishing up the book of John right now and I have never learned so much.  Such a true and deep study of the Bible.  We leave our problems at home or at least in the car, dig into the Word, and leave with the strength, knowledge, and power to face anything.  The bigger God is in your life, the smaller your "problems" will be. They won't go away, but they become less....... of your time, thoughts, and energy. Each week is relevant and life changing.  Thank you, God, for meeting me where I am.

 

Well I better wrap this up soon.  I'm headed to Jonesboro again tomorrow.  I will leave you with a few pictures of my babies!

Would not wake up to save her life! ha!

 

Piper finally found a way to join Alex in the bathroom sink....He is THRILLED.  Can't you tell? :) I woke up and found them like this. Numerous times.

And Piper has chewed away the blinds so that she can look out of them in the event that they are not pulled up.  She watches us drive away and watches people walk by on their way to and from school or work.  I wonder how many people see her and just smile.  We do, every time.

Hanna, this blog post is for you.  You can quit the fight as soon as you are ready.  We would all love to see you in blogland! :)

Love you all!