Summer Fashion Week... Are you in?

Dun dun duh!

Summer Fashion time is here, woo wooo!!

If you didn't get to join in on the fun in the Spring, this is your chance!

This is seriously SO much fun, and you won't regret participating...

Here are the ground rules for those of you who are new to the game:

1. Snap pictures of your snazzy Summer looks starting July 12th. (Or, you could start snapping pictures NOW so you will have a plethora to choose from by the time Summer Fashion week rolls around!) Then, post them on your blog.

2. Come back here on Monday, July 12th. On that day, you will find a link list that you can plug your fashion post info into so that everyone can see that you've participated for that day. There will be separate link lists for each day. Each list will compile all the links together for each day so we can see everyone who is participating in one place!

3. Repeat for each day of the week! For each day you participate, your name will be entered into a drawing for a fun giveaway at the end of the seven days!

(This is all just a ploy for me to be able to say THANK YOU for all your continued support and readership here on my bloggity blog. I just adore you guys and am so thankful for all your encouragement throughout the years!)

4. Lastly, TELL ALL YOUR BLOG BUDDIES! Spread the news! The more people we have joining in the fun, the better it will be! Pencil it in your calendars and then go shout it from your rooftop. (Because that wouldn't be awkward AT ALL.)

Here's a small button for any of you who want to start spreading the word... (Just copy and paste that HTML code into your sidebar.)

<a href="http://emeryjo.blogspot.com"><img src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa122/emeryjo/Blog%20Button/summerfashionbutton.png"></a>

Or, here's the code for a BIGGER version if you'd like to do a separate post (like this one) to spread the word:

<a href="http://emeryjo.blogspot.com"><img src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa122/emeryjo/Blog%20Button/summerfashionweek.png"></a>

I'm so excited to do this again with you guys.

So... are you in?! Please say you're IN!

Jericho.

My husband and I have been on a hard journey. We have spent the last 12 years together- loving each other deeply, but wondering why each passing year brought more distance and space between our hearts. Or perhaps, as we are now realizing, the space had always been there but we have been slowly growing into the knowledge of the disconnect.

One of my favorite things about God is how He's so thoroughly surprising. It seems that every time I think I have Him figured out, or I think I know how things are going to go, He likes to flip me on my head.

I thought my journey towards knowing true intimacy with my husband was going to take the standard (may I say BORING?) path of discovering and discussing each issue that we could muster up until we finally came to a place of forgiveness and... tolerance?

THAT was my idea of 'a good place to end up' after all of this. A place where it wouldn't be quite so hard to show and receive love from my husband... A place where all my walls would be covered up somehow so that, in time, Chris would maybe just forget that they were there.

I could become like a master magician... hiding the Statue of Liberty by sheer illusion and trickery! Voila!

But God has been dreaming bigger dreams over me.

He wants to straight up JERICHO these walls I've built around my heart. He wants them to crumble into dust so fine that they blow away in a breeze. It's a painful thing to submit to... having all your barriers and 'security' taken away... but I'm trying to keep saying YES to Him because I know these old walls are protecting me from nothing but my own life. And healing love.

God has plans for my marriage to FLOURISH. He wants to see us merge and fall into one another and become strong. He wants to see us pool our hearts together and pour them out on the people He brings us into contact with. He wants to see us laugh and smile and play together and become aware of the power that He's given us as a team. He wants us to be fully known by each other... where there's no shame or fear or holding back, just as He knows and loves us.

One of the surprising ways that He has been slowly building this picture of what our marriage could be like is through giving us some opportunities recently to play music together. He has taken something that we both individually love and He has brought us together in it... showing us the joy and power that comes when we unite our voices and instruments for one purpose. We haven't really played music together like that for seven or eight years. There has been something so intimate about it. And the timing of it- the gentleness and sweetness of it, the FUN of it- they are unmistakeably the handiwork of God.

It has given us hope! It has reminded us that God KNOWS what we love and fights for those things. It has reminded me that God is not boring! He is the most exciting and creative thing in the universe... like Macgyver! Times infinity billion! He's like, "Hand me that broken girl and that humble boy, stat!" And he takes two seemingly damaged-beyond-repair things and makes something beautiful and surprising and confounding out of them.

He is so good!

My Child is Allergic to THE WORLD.

We just got back from the doctor's office. Myer had an allergy test today that ended up being completely overwhelming and all kinds of frustrating. I want to write all this down while it is fresh and so I can wrap my head around it all a bit more...

The test itself wasn't all that horrible, they did the 'scratch test', but the results were a bit hard to swallow.

He's allergic to every outdoor allergen- which means that all year around he's allergic to the WORLD.
He's allergic to dogs.
He's allergic to DUST MITES. The doctor told me that I should seriously consider pulling up the carpet in his room and putting down wood floors- as well as no curtains allowed, and every pillow or mattress in the room needs to be encased in (HELLO expensive) allergen covers. Also, I have to wash all the linens in his room (including Ezra's) in 150 degree water at least once a week.

He's allergic to wheat.
And eggs.
And peanuts.
And strawberries.
And probably more foods that they weren't able to test for.

His eczema is not getting any better and he needs breathing treatments and epi-pens and rescue inhalers on hand at all times for when he's wheezing.

They have to take a blood sample in the next couple of days to do more extensive testing and then we have to go back for something called a "Food Challenge" which sounds... about as fun as a nice dip in a shark pool.

On the way out, Myer was screeching and arching and they were asking me to fill out pages and pages of paper work and then the card was declined and I forgot my cell phone at home on the dresser and I just about LOST it. I think the receptionist had no idea what to do with me. haha I was such a disheveled mess at that point. I was simultaneously trying not to cry while writing a check and holding a screaming baby.

*deep breath*

Okay, so what do I need to focus on for the right-now?

I think my biggest challenge will be keeping Myer off of WHEAT for the next month or so until they do the blood draw/food challenge thing.

Do any of you or your kiddos have experience with a wheat allergy? WHAT THE HECK do you feed a child that contains no wheat besides fruits and veggies?

URG. Thanks for letting me vent. And for any advice you can give this floundering & stressed out mamma.

(I think I need a margarita. heh.)

You're about to get a Christmas Song stuck in your head.

Ezra lost his two front teeth last week.

And, BAM! Just like that, he suddenly seems waaaaay older to me.

Every time I look at his little face and see the big gaping hole where his teeth used to be, I feel complete shock. It's almost like those two teeth held the last remnants of his baby-hood inside of them.

The tooth fairy came and took away his chompers, just like the other two teeth he's lost before, but this time I felt a little sad. Because next comes Kindergarten and then Little League and then Prom and then he's only going to come visit me in the nursing home on Thursdays! And the Jell-o will be all melty! And the only one missing any teeth will be ME!

Okay, maybe I didn't freak out quite that much. But it is tripping me out to see my oldest get... older.

I really am looking forward to the age he's stepping into. In a couple of months, he'll be in school all day, and his days won't be quite so... glommed on to mine. Then I'll get to hear about his experiences and joys and hardships and watch the little boy I adore become more of a young man as he stretches against or embraces things with his own two (scrawny white) arms.

I have so much confidence in this boy. He's going to ROCK at life.

(PS. Does anyone know when the "losing teeth" stage ends? There is nothing that ooogs me out more than dangly, unbrushable tooth nubs. *shudder gag*)

Vitamin D & Me.

For the first time ever the sun has been drawing me out of doors instead of pushing me back inside. I HAVE NO IDEA WHO I AM ANYMORE. I have always been known for three things:

1. a hater of running
2. a hater of seafood
3. and a hater of sunshine.

I am typically a snow-lovin' girl and a rain-lovin' woman. Big storms make me feel like I can finally breathe and the moon has always been my orb of choice.

Who IS this me that is tending her flowers and setting up kiddie pools and slip & slides and smiling as she pulls on a tank top in the morning? Who IS this me that is digging through the cupboards for sunscreen and choosing (willingly!) to read her books out-of-doors?

I don't even know. It's like a parallel universe.

Up is down!

Left is right!

Emery is tan for the first time since 1994!

Crazy stuff I tell ya...

Aiming for You.

There is so much going on inside lately but it's all too private to broadcast. I've been on a journey of becoming more free and it has not been the quick transportation that I was secretly hoping for... more like a slow saunter down an all-too-familiar old road.

Things may look & feel the same in my day-to-day, but I'm going somewhere new. I believe it. This is like the "one last goodbye" saunter where I look over the old ground and then turn away from it forever.

I've talked here about my struggle with intimacy and how it has affected every single part of who I am. I am currently on a journey of unpacking that struggle and basically choosing not to live that way anymore because it has all been based on a lie.

I can know deep intimacy. In friendships, in marriage, and in my relationship with God and my children.

Sometimes we are led to believe lies when we are SO young, and then we base our entire lives off of that falsity. It is not easy to backtrack and rebuild. But it is worth it. The God that I believe in is a Repairer of Broken Walls and a Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. He can wipe away this age-old lie and replace it with a foundation of flashing sapphires. And then, before you know it, He's hoisting up battlements of rubies and gates of precious stones. Over time, the "slimy sand-castle" way of existing becomes a distant dream, and the strength you feel running through you makes the very ground rumble as your enemy flees to cower under the shelter of a rock.

That is the strength of my God. Whom shall I fear?

Even though now it is a struggle every single moment to choose Him over the World, I know that this season will strengthen me and end in a good result, if I can only keep my eyes on Him. I am thankful for these tumultuous times. They are producing in me perseverance, which births character. And character brings forth hope. And hope, by its very nature, cannot disappoint.

Lord, watch over these faltering steps. I am aiming for You.

Brought Into Focus.

My super amazing friend, Cameron, took some family photos of us while he was visiting OKC recently for Joel & Morgan's wedding reception. I keep getting frustrated when I try to type out how much of a blessing this was to me, because I just don't feel like I can express it properly, but seeing these images somehow solidified something my heart that I didn't even know was squidgy.

We are a family of FOUR. There was something about seeing us... all four of us... smiling and being happy together that totally floored me. Seeing Myer included with all of us in a picture made him feel more real... like we really were blessed with this amazing boy and he's ours. To keep!! haha. (I probably sound like a wack-a-doo.)

We were a family of three for four years. That's a pretty good stretch of time. It became so normal and so a part of who I was... one of three... that it took something as simple as a photo of what we look like as a family from the outside to drive home the point that I have truly expanded myself and enlarged my heart again in the form of a whole new branch of this little family tree.

What an honor! What a joy! What a vital part he has become to us all! Every time I look at these photos I feel like I'm going to explode with all the thanksgiving and gratitude that wells up in my heart towards God. The God who multiplies and expands us in such beautiful ways. It's all just so amazing.




Go to Cameron's blog to see a few more shots- they are just a sampling of the wonderful work he created for us to keep and cherish forever and ever.

Thank you, Cam-sauce!! We love you so so much!!

The Craziest Thing I've Ever Experienced.

Seriously. It felt like the Armageddon. The wind was loud. The hail was deafening. Car alarms, house alarms, emergency sirens echoing through the neighborhood, kids squealing, husband hollering and jumping, glass breaking....

It only lasted about 5 minutes, but DANG.







We were watching our neighbor's kiddos when the storm hit, and it was quite the challenge to try and keep them all safely on the couch while trying not to spook them more than they were already spooked. Poor sweet munchkins! When it was all over, though, they were fascinated and excited- not scared. So that was good.


The storm troopers!

Our roof needs to be replaced. Our cars are both totaled, as far as we can tell. There are hundreds of huge golf ball sized dents on every square inch of them and the windshields are cracked. Some of our storm windows got busted. And our neighborhood is covered in leaves and branches and debris.

It was completely thrilling and awe inspiring.

God is big. And we are... not.

Growing out Short Hair.

Today my hair was making me want to... pull out my hair.

So, remembering a technique my dear friend Harmony taught me back in my college days, I grabbed some bobbypins and pinned it up.

And then this afternoon, I trimmed my bangs.

Ta-da! New hair!

I think this will really help as I trudge through the horrible stages that come with growing out my hairz. I recommend a truck load of bobbypins to anyone and everyone who is trying to go from short to long.





They are miracle workers, I tell ya!

Ezra & his Amazing Technicolor Dream Fish.

Ezra caught his first fish this weekend! He was thrilled/creeped out... just like his mother!

We threw the fish right back in the water and it swam away like a bat out of hell.

(What does that even MEAN anyway? Why bats? I mean, BATS, of all creatures in existence, should not be getting back out of hell after they die. They should be locked up in the hottest room for all eternity and made to wear little winter coats and scarves... no?)

Well, anyway, it swam away like a fish off the hook.

It's official: my California-born child is now an Okie through and through.




(I was sure a tiny trout was going to grab hold of that hook and teach my baby to water ski.)




What a little man he is becoming.

It baffles me.