Sleepless in Chicago

xoxo,

the girl who reeeeeally misses 

her husband and needs some sleep

An Introduction

I promise I was telling the truth awhile ago when I wrote that I wasn't

going to be a nanny anymore.

We were certain that that season of our lives was done 

and that it was time to move on to other things.

It broke our hearts a little, I loved nannying.

It was such a great job for me and us and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

But as I said, due to A LOT of reasons

we were certain that season was done.

God obviously had other plans (:

A friend who is also nanny (who is moving.... so going to miss her!)

approached me a couple weeks before I was finishing and told me that 

her nanny family was still looking for a replacement and that she had

mentioned me to them and they were very interested in meeting/interviewing me

would I be interested in meeting/interviewing them?

So husband and I talked and talked and talked and talked a little more

and decided as long as I was very clear that I wasn't sure

I wanted to nanny anymore it wouldn't hurt to keep

the door open for a job, you know just in case.

Long story made a little shorter,

this job/family was everything that we had been hoping

and praying for in the next job for me

(they even have a dog! which has secretly been on my wish list since I started nannying :))

and it was very VERY clear that this is where

God wanted me to be.

So blog,

meet my little men (:

They are the sweetest, wildest, cleverest little men you'll ever meet

and I am so so honored to be a part of their lives.

xoxo,

lyss

P.S. Another parking spot! Seriously. 

A Saturday's Plans

 The weekend to do list was to go to the the new Heritage downtown

and get some coffee and for Josh to pack, for we had sound/media early then 

he had to be off for camp.

Oh what plans we make (:

Instead, we woke early and took one of my littles adventuring with us.

Heritage was not open, so we drove here and there around downtown

looking for another one of the coffee shops on our coffee shop to do list.

And we found Dollop! Such a beautiful light filled coffee shop

that was just perfect for our overcast chilly morning 

(um 55 degrees in July?? what is this?!)

Then we headed over to my favorite park,

that has a beautiful backdrop of the city and is right by the river

so you get to see lots of boats and such

which elicits lots of "whoa! BIG boats!" from little boys (;

But it was very very chilly and our legs started getting little bumps 

all over so we headed over to Trader Joes to

push around their little baby carts and pick up a few groceries for the week.

On the way we passed a pop up vintage bazaar 

and of course we stopped,

 because you don't just pass these things on a cloudy chilly Saturday (:

It was so much fun walking around with little man

looking at this and that and giving our thoughts

on red couches and vintage train sets.

And then we were off to Trader Joe's which apparently doesn't

have the baby carts on the weekend because they are a safety 

hazard with the heightened traffic on the weekend.

Yeah.

We were bummed.

But the free samples of cherry juice definitely made up for it (;

Then little man had a nap, and we went to an Army Reserve store

for cool camp stuff (it was SO cool!)

and then we play with lots of cars 

and other boy stuff till it was time for little man 

to eat and go to bed and high time for us to go home.

Where we stayed up very late and Josh packed and packed and packed

and I shook my head at him for being so last minute (:

I love living in the city,

and I'm beginning to love the days 

when plans go all awry 

and the day turns into a beautiful

wandering adventure.

Happy Monday!

xoxo,

lyss

P.S. Another wide open parking spot! What??!!

In which Josh goes to summer camp....

So that sexy face up there is on his

way to MI right now for summer camp.

For a week.

A WHOLE week.

Commence chanting of "I'm a big girl, 

I will NOT text Josh every hour for the next 5 days"

Ha! But really....

I have such a deep respect and admiration for the 

many military wives who endure and survive weeks and long months without

seeing their husbands so that we can live safe and protected.

I only have a week (and I don't have any kids!)

and I'm kind of wondering what in the world I'm going to do with this week.

Just kidding, I do know.

I'm going to go to work,

take care of our home,

and pray for and love those youth

 while Josh goes and spends

a solid week loving and serving them.

But man oh man am I going to miss that guy of mine....

As I was driving home from dropping Husband off,

I could NOT find a parking spot.

(One of the major bummers of living in the city)

right when I was seriously thinking about

giving in to the desire to cry my eyes out

I saw a couple that needed help jump starting their car, so I helped them, 

(although I don't know why they needed to start their car, they weren't leaving)

and then lo and behold around the corner there was a HUGE open

spot just waiting for me!

Such a sweet blessing and reminder that God will provide.

Here's to a week of singleness and probably lots

of London Hospital (;

Happy Sunday! 

xoxo,

lyss

Tender Mercies pt 1

There has been so much that has happened this past little while

that has humbled me with an overwhelming knowledge

of what awesome things God can do and how easily I can miss these things.

I have felt an urgency to write them on my heart,

to remember and reminisce on them,

and to take to time to fully realize them.

I'll start with some silly little ones (:

I've wanted/needed some new jeans and had in mind the 

the jeans I wanted, but they are very very expensive.

I had a gift card for the store, but even with the gift card

I was uncomfortable with the thought of spending that much

on some jeans. A week ago Josh had a big long meeting

so I went meandering downtown and stopped into the store 

because they were having a huge sale.

All the while thinking "this is really stupid, I don't really need anything 

and it is not wise to be looking at expensive things I don't need" 

while I walked in the store (:

As I looked at this and that I saw the jeans I had been eyeing for a year 

or so and saw that they were on sale, so I checked the price.

They were 50% off, but still not quite the price I was comfortable with.

Then I saw the "extra 40% off sale items" sign,

and started doing the math.

50% off + 40% + 15% off student discount

(really enjoy that student discount :))

+ gift card

=affordable!!

I ended up paying $11 for two pairs of jeans that

are usually much MUCH more than that.

I was so humbled that God saw and knew my want/need 

and answered it in such an awe inspiring way.

But there's more (:

You see those sandals up there?

The really cute ones?

I've also been eyeing those for a looooong time

but again was uncomfortable with investing THAT much

into a shoe/sandal.

They were not on sale and are all sold out in most stores/online.

I checked with my local store and they said they had one pair

left in my size, but they were not on sale.

So I submitted that these were just not meant to be mine.

Until two days later when Josh was asking me about it again,

and I decided I would call headquarters just to make sure they really weren't on sale.....

and they were! 

But they hadn't been on sale, it was only that day that the sale had started.

So we ran over to the store and they STILL had that one last

pair waiting there just for me!

Again, sale + 40% off + 15% off = Yay for new sandals!

Such silly little things but they really

bless me and bring such beauty and awareness of God's providence

 to my daily tasks.

xoxo,

lyss

p.s. I really need to work on that tan line :P
anyone want to go to the beach??

Grateful

Job transitions

That these flowers are still going

Kind and gracious employers/clients

Lemonade in the heat of the afternoon

Talking to family on Sunday afternoon

Christmas plans
(eeeeek! So excited!)

Ibuprofen for aching muscles

Our bikes

Summer in the city

Communication,
even though we butcher it some of the time,
it is such a precious thing.

The beach and its unique beauty

Iced coffee (:


Hope you're enjoying the heat of summer
and drinking lots of lemonade!

xoxo,
lyss

and there went another week I fully intended to blog and didn't....

oops.

All I want for Christmas is....

whom am I kidding...
one of these has been on the top of our list since oh you know 3 years ago (;

"wishing and hoping and dreaming and praying!"

Happy Tuesday (:

xoxo,
lyss  

A good one

This weekend was SUCH a good one.

I woke up feeling loads and loads better on Saturday so we decide to carry out 

our original plan of escaping the city for greener pastures.

But before we left we stopped at a couple estate sales

and man did we hit the jackpot!

A gorgeous vintage blanket, a train set, a few records, 

some beautiful vintage and designer clothes, 

a mini grill (which has been on our wishlist for a looong time)

and some christmas lights to top it all off!

All for just dollars,

we were over the moon (:

Then we drove off into the hot summer sun until we reached

this forest/lake preserve I've been wanting to check out.

We found this lovely little hidden spot that was just begging

to be enjoyed and picnicked in.

So we did,

and it was perfect.

We picnicked, rested, and soaked up the sun to our hearts content.

Just wonderful.

And if that weren't enough to make the day pretty much 

my favorite yet, then we drove to a drive in movie

and saw Despicable Me II!

Sooooo much fun!

Sunday we accidentally slept in waaaay past when we should

have been up and off to church (oops)

so we stayed home and worked together on this project and that.

Such as weeding the backyard, and boring stuff like that (:

But it was so much fun and restful in its own way to work hard together.

Now if we can just figure out how to kill those dang

weeds so they never ever ever come back....

And that was our weekend!

So good, 

wish we could do it all over again (:

xoxo,

lyss

Tonight we celebrated 5 years of "us".

and that's really all there is to say

because I was a lousy date

(I'm still miserably sick and coughed and hacked the whole time)

and we both had fairly rough days

so it was not the romantic nostalgic night either of us was hoping for.

But it was lovely in its own familiar comforting way.

Which is sometimes so much better.

I am so in love with this man.

I'm glad we have our whole lives together

filled with romantic and not so romantic moments and 

all the moments in between,

there's none else I'd rather spend them with than him.

Ha! I guess there was stuff to say (:

xoxo,

lyss