I can't believe how much I took for granted my time in college. I had all the FREE time in the world. I can say that studying was never really an option for me. I would rather have been doing anything else. I didn't really care what my grades were. All I knew is that I was supposed to go to college, even if I had NO idea what I wanted to do with my life. So I went, not knowing what I wanted to do. And that continued until I graduated. Going into the real world I still had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. And I would say that up until a year ago I had no idea what I wanted to do. Well, now I do. I want to be a nurse... specifically a labor and delivery nurse. So I'm taking my pre-reqs to get in to nursing school. Since I graduated with an Arts degree, I only needed 2 science classes and it didn't matter which ones I took, so I took the easiest ones. And now, 9 years later, I am paying for that mistake. I have 5 science classes that I need to take (and 4 other random ones). And I can't take any of them online. So I have to go to school 2 days a week, for 6 hours just for one science class. Now I know that doesn't sound like a lot of time, but it really is. I have a job, so I am already away from my children 3 days a week, and adding 2 half days is really painful. I don't like being away from them. It sucks. But, I really want to get my nursing degree. It is, however, going to take a while. They offer summer classes, but they are every day and I can't do that since I have a job and 2 children to take care of. So I will be done with my pre-reqs December of 2014. Then I will apply to get into nursing school for Fall of 2015. And that will take 1.5 years. So I should be done with nursing school by Spring 2017. 4 more years from now. I will be 35. Why didn't I figure this out when I was in college?? I am, however, kicking butt in my classes because I actually want to do well and succeed and I know I need to have good grades to get in to the school I want. Okay, sorry for the pity party, but I am at the library doing my statistics class and my brain got overloaded with information, so I thought I would procrastinate and blog. Pray for me.

Happy Birthday, Josiah!!

I can hardly believe my little man is 3 today! What a true blessing he has been in our life. He has taught us about patience, unconditional love, kindness, gentleness, so on and so on. He has such a sweet disposition. He takes the role of big brother very seriously and is always looking out for Layla (which doesn't mean they don't fight). If I'm upset, he knows and is comforting me. He wrestles with his daddy and helps Chris re-live his own childhood. He loves learning about God's Word, and we pray that we are doing a good job loving our children as Christ loves us. We are truly blessed.

Celebration

One of our personal New Year's Resolutions came true on Valentine's Day. Chris got offered a job at Right Now. It's a ministry organization and you can check out their website at www.rightnow.org

We are beyond thrilled and are humbled by God's mercy and grace on our family. I am so proud of Chris for pursuing a new career path that will lead him towards Christ. We are truly blessed! If you think about it, congratulate Chris. He spend a lot of time in prayer and fellowship about this decision and I couldn't be more proud!

36 days of 2013

January came and went faster than the blink of an eye!! I finished Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred and am now on day 7 of Get Ripped in 30. I have really enjoyed getting my butt kicked every day! There were many days that it was hard to fit in my schedule, but I was determined to do it, so I did. It's true what they say, do something for 21 days and it becomes a habit. Now if I haven't worked out before lunch I feel lazy and actually miss it. On the days that I work I have to wait until after the kids go to bed to get my work out in, but Chris is extremely supportive and encourages me, so that makes it easier and I don't feel guilty neglecting him for 35 minutes. I wouldn't necessarily say I've lost any weight, it has just redistributed to muscle and my pants fit better, and most importantly, I FEEL better. Now if I could only get my love for chocolate under control!

Chris and I are still reading the Bible every day. It's been awesome. We are both learning so many things about some of the main people in the Bible (i.e. Moses and Abraham) and getting to know God's character better. There have been several times when I have gasped out loud at what has happened or thought to myself, what an awesome movie the story of the descendants of Israel (also named Jacob) would make. Getting to read the New Testament at the same time as the Old Testament is pretty cool. Jesus refers to the Pentateuch often so it's getting to the point where I know what he's talking about! Like I said before, it's become a habit and one I will NOT give up!!

School has been going great! Chris took his first Economics test and made a 100!! I was/am very proud of him. I knew he would succeed, and now he knows it too! I have also been doing really well and actually understand what I'm learning. It's interesting how much I care to do well... that was not the case in college!
Layla and Josiah are getting cooler each day! They play incredibly well together and absolutely adore each other! Josiah is really good at puzzles and loves to draw while Layla bolts for the door every time it opens because she loves the outdoors. Have I mentioned her obsession with necklaces and blankets? Because the girl won't go anywhere without either of those. I am beyond blessed with my children and family and am so thankful for them!

2013 Goals

Goals, resolutions, whatever you want to call them, here are some of ours for 2013 (we are keeping some private too):

• Follow Highland Park Presbyterian Church's Read Through the Bible in a Year
• Get all A's in our classes
• Kristine complete Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred in January and Get Ripped in 30 in February
• Kristine pick up sign language again
• Find somewhere to volunteer monthly as a family
• Spend more time outdoors/cut down on Josiah's television time
• Chris be able to spend more time writing music

So far we are on track with the Bible program and Kristine is on day 6 of the 30 Day Shred (I started a day early as to have Get Ripped completed by Febraury 28... see how I plan ahead? :)). Obviously our main focus is to continue on the path God is leading us, wherever that is, and be good servants of His and follow Him even when it's something we don't want to do.

Our friend, Jason, sent Chris this verse this morning:

Proverbs 30:8-9 (NIV)

 

⁸ Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
⁹ Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.

 

This is a great verse for my family to rest in and pray on. I love when friends send verses of inspiration and reflection as to make us more holy and be in awe of God and all his blessings (seen and unseen)!

A Season of Joy

This is a long one!

This has been the best, most exciting Holiday Season the Munselles have had! To start off, Thanksgiving was so wonderful. Chris and I were unable to make it to Dallas for Thanksgiving the 3 years we lived Nashville, so it was such a blessing to be with all our family on Thanksgiving day. We hung out at my parents most of the day and Josiah and Layla loved all the food (if you know anything about Layla, it's that she will eat whatever is put in front of her, whenever she can!). Our only responsibility was to cook the sweet potato casserole, which Chris did without my help... what can I say, I'm terrible in the kitchen! The following day, my parents took Layla and Josiah to a farm in Waco with my brother and his wife, Naomi, and her whole family. Josiah LOVES his cousins more than me I think. When I ask him who he wants to pray for at night, he always says "Abby, Jakey, Robby". I love that he loves them, because it makes for fun family get togethers. While our children were in Waco, Chris and I moved into our OWN place!! We lived with Chris's parents through August, then we moved across the street from my work for 3 months house-sitting. It is so great having our own place with our own stuff. I forgot what all we had! Moving from a 2100 square foot house to a 1300 square foot apartment has been a slight adjustment. We had to get rid of several things, but de-cluttering/downsizing crap you don't need is one of my favorite things, so it came really easy for me. I must admit, not having so much excess is really nice. It makes me really appreciate just being with my husband/kids and not worrying about how much stuff we have. Besides, we have 2 wild children who destroy most things in their path, so what's the point of having stuff in their way?
12/12/12 was my 31st birthday (the best day ever created). My parents took the kids for the night and the hubs and I went out on a lovely date. He saw Breaking Dawn part 2 with me (what a loving hubby!) and then we got sushi to go and came home and watched an uber chick flick. It was a great celebration and I am just reminded constantly of how much I am loved by my husband and how undeserving I am of him. The week before Christmas was perfection. Chris's sister, Elyse, and her husband, Carter, were in town. Instead of buying gifts for each other, we went out to dinner. It was so fun just hanging out with the two of them and catching up and getting to know them better. Josiah is kind of obsessed with uncle Car Car. For instance, today Josiah told me that he wanted 2 mommies. Me and Uncle Car Car. I'm not sure how I feel about that... Josiah also is obsessed with Christmas lights, so one night we went to the Deerfield neighborhood in Plano and just walked around for a while. It was pretty incredible and a definite redo for next year.
Christmas eve my sister came in town from San Francisco. The last time she came in town was in February and I visited her in August, so it was so great being with her again. My brother, Matthew, and his family came in town that day too. So for the next 3 days it was controlled chaos and I loved every minute of it. We spoiled our children and loved doing it. One night all the siblings and their spouses went to Trinity Hall and had such a hilarious time. Man, I love my family. At one point I thought "in a few years there could be 8 of us". While the younger years with children are hard, the older years are all worth it!
Chris and I start school on January 22. He's going to get his bachelor's in business administration then go straight into getting his master's in healthcare administration. I am going back to get my pre-reqs so I can apply to nursing school. The last time I took a science class was well over a decade ago, so I might be horrible at it, but for over a year I have had a strong desire to become a labor and delivery nurse, so I am going to see if God gives me the ability to do it! We also start our new community group this month. We are so incredibly excited to begin/continue life with 2 dear couples that we love/adore/respect/cherish. I begin a woman's Bible study with some new friends on the 14th and it is such an answer to prayer. God continues to bless our life and we are very aware that we don't deserve any of it.

The best analogy I've heard about God since becoming a parent was recently... and it goes something like this. If God gave us everything we asked for the world would be much worse than it is now. Think of your relationship with God as your relationship with your child. If you gave your child everything he asked for, his teeth would probably have fallen out of his mouth long ago and he would have so many things we wanted, but not much of what he needs. God sees the bigger picture, we can't. Just like, as parents, we see the bigger picture. If we gave our children candy every night their teeth would be rotten and they would be extremely unhealthy. So we force them to eat fruits and vegetables because we know it's good for them. So when God says no to a prayer request, I need to remind myself that He sees the bigger picture and is doing everything for His glory, not my selfish desires.