Confessions of a Bad Christian Family

More and More Wedding Planning

Just when I think I’m done with the wedding stuff, I think of something else! I’m going through music now, looking for first dance, Daddy-Daughter for Matt and Shanna, and Mother-Son for Matt and his mom. I’ve decided against doing a dance with anyone in my family, it’ll cause more headache than I want to put up with.

I’m also putting a bunch of songs just in a playlist to play beforehand and during the reception, but that’s easier. Although, I won’t say no to recommendations…

I’m also working on room arrangements for the night before. My work has a retreat center that can room about 40 people, so the wedding party and some out of town family are staying the night. I just want to make sure we’re not all mixed up. I know myself and the bridal party are staying in one wing with the small living room to get ready in. The groom and groomsmen are getting ready in the conference room, with is just off the main hall.

Oh, I still need to get the cake ordered. There’s this amazing bakery near the venue that’ll be perfect! We’re doing a small 2 tier cake for pictures and tradition, and then a few dozen cupcakes.

In other news, I finally brought the pup to be fixed. No puppies for us! He was so drugged out when we brought him home, poor baby. He’s normally really hyper and just bouncing off the walls, but he just wanted to nap and get snuggles. Barely ate anything that first day, which the vet told us about. It’s been a couple days, so he’s back to his normal, rambunctious self.

I think that’s it for now. I’m waiting on my seamstress to recover from wrist surgery to tailor my dress and Shanna’s dress, Matt and I are both on track to be in good shape for the wedding and honeymoon, and we’re excited to be able to have everything we want and more thanks to the support of our families and friends.

If anyone has any recommendations for songs to go on the wedding playlist (or the road trip playlist to the honeymoon) leave them down below! Remember to spread kindness to everyone to meet, and that you’re loved more than you know!

I’m Back!

Hey guys! Sorry I’ve been gone for so long, a lot started happening and this unfortunately had to take a backseat for a bit. I’m back now, and I should be back for good!

So, what’s been happening? Let’s see, well, Matt and I are in the midst of wedding planning. In the last post, I mentioned he finally proposed, I do think I ever shared the story for that though. We’re huge nerds, and play dungeons and dragons together every week. Last fall we played 2 games every week together, and it was that second game where Matt proposed. He almost didn’t get to, I was tired and trying to get everyone to agree to call it (it was like 11 pm and I’m not a night person lol) We got it on video, so I’ll make sure to post it here somewhere.

Shanna loved her birthday party and room makeover. We gone in and reorganized things the way she wants it, so its perfect!

The new puppy is doing great, though he’s not so new anymore. This 7 month old little monster is 70 pounds already! I knew German Shepherd were big dogs, I didn’t realize they got that big that quick though! Potty training went well after a couple weeks. We stopped using the potty pads since he just played with them. After he got a bit bigger, we started leaving him out during the day. He’s really liked that, he likes playing with the neighbor’s dogs through the fence.

Matt and I had to quarantine during Thanksgiving, he had been exposed over the weekend, so we had my mom bring us a turkey and a couple groceries for us to cook for ourselves. It wasn’t that bad I guess, but I definitely missed being with family.

Ok, what else? Christmas happened, it went well. We had Shanna this year so we made stops at all the families. I’m getting an assistant at work. Matt’s busy as usual. I think that’s it for the most part. I’ll post some pictures and videos, but That’s my update for now! I’ll make sure to post again next week.

Remember to spread kindness to everyone you meet, and that you’re loved more that you know!

The Holidays!!

Where to begin!!

It’s been a while, sorry. I was working through some things, and we were both busy and not busy at the same time.

I’ll hit the basics real quick, Matt and I are engaged (finally), Shanna’s party went amazing! She loves her new room. Matt was exposed to COVID so we had to quarantine for Thanksgiving, I’m done Christmas shopping (for reals this time) and I’ve started a new work project!

The puppy is doing great! He’s growing so fast, already 30lbs and hyper as can be. He loves his whimsy treats, and the teething chews I found.

Shanna is officially 10!! And she’s really grown a lot this year. She’s started coming out of her shell more and letting us know what things she’s interested in. She likes Maximum Ride by James Patterson, so one of her gifts is a box set of them.

Matt’s birthday is coming up soon, he’ll be 29, so keep Grandpa in your prayers! He’s freaking out about being almost 30, poor guy. Me, I can’t wait to be in my 30s, then my old lady body will have finally been right for my age!

I’ll make another post this weekend, I’ll include some pictures of the puppy, our holiday pics, and some of my four (4!) trees. Matt says I went to far, I think I need another full size one lol!!

I promise I’ll be better about posting something every week. I’m really doing this for me more than anything.

Remember to be kind to everyone you meet, and that you are loved more than you know!!

Busy, Busy Bates

These past few weeks have been crazy! Pictures and birthdays and weddings! Then we had out Annual Meeting with work to prepare for, next is Angel Tree cards and the Bivocational Conference in Comfort (a tiny little roadtrip for me!) then finishing the Annual Book of Reports.

Thankfully, I’ve got all my Christmas shopping done, and Matt and I should be done with Shanna’s dressers this weekend for her room make-over. Her new bed-frame will be in Halloween, and then we can get everything put together for her party on the 7th.

Speaking of Halloween, Matt and I are doing a trunk or treat with our church. I’ve got my theme picked out, I just need to get everything for it.

In other news, Matt and I are officially engaged! Over the weekend he proposed, so we’re officially getting married now! I mean, we always were going to get married, but now its happening for real! Both of our families (and all our friends) said it’s about time. So we’re getting married May 15, then going to the coast for our honeymoon!

All in all, life is happening at the speed of light for the Bates family. I’m so excited for everything, for our family to finally become one, and to know that I will be spending the rest of my life with Matthew.

I know I said that so much has happened these past weeks, but there really isn’t much left to tell. It’s all been work stuff. So, until next week! Remember to spread love wherever you go, and you are loved more than you know!!

The Busy Season

This week will be the start of my busy season. Coming up, I have: a massive conference on race relations, family pictures, my birthday, our Annual HOPE Offering, mine and Matt’s anniversary (3 years together!!), our massive Annual Meeting (our office serves 83 churches, and we bring them ALL together to fellowship with one another), finish planning and ordering stuff for Shanna’s birthday party that is the first Saturday of November, and finish planning all the Christmas gifts. And that’s just October!

After this month it’ll be a bit more easy going, but then we have Shanna’s party, then Thanksgiving, then order and send out Christmas cards, then decorate for the holidays and finish getting whatever is left on our list, the Matt’s birthday, and still make Christmas cookies for the Police department, mine and Matt’s bosses, and Shanna’s teachers. Oh and family too I guess. Plus finishing the financial reports for the year, getting W2’s, giving forms, tentative calendars, and giving receipts ready to be sent out in the new year.

Thank the Lord my office isn’t doing a Christmas party this year! I don’t know how much more I can hold on my plate. The worst part (not that I regret any of it or think any of it is bad of course) is that Matt can’t really take any off my plate. Most of this is for work, and I’m a touch controlling, which gets worse when I’m stressed, and when I’m stressed I start planning, which stresses me out some more, so I just start doing things (like stress cleaning the kitchen) which makes me tired, so I sit down and plan more things, and it’s just a vicious cycle…

I know I SHOULD let Matt take some things, like the Christmas shopping and some of the prep work for Shanna’s birthday and some of the decorating for Christmas, but I know me, and I’ll just be like, “no I don’t want that there” or “no we can’t get that because it’ll clash with the decorations I got already” and eventually I’ll just take it over anyway. I always do.

But I also love planning stuff, planning and organizing events is what I do, it’s my spiritual gift, so I can’t just give it up. I just need to learn to control it.

And on that note, I’m gonna leave it here. I’ve got a lot to do, and not a lot of time to do it. I love you guys, remember to spread love and kindness where ever you go, and you are loved more that you know!!

P.S., the puppy is doing great!! He’s started letting us know he needs to potty so we can go outside!

Holiday Season

So last week we got the puppy, and it’s just been crazy with him and trying to train him. The most frustrating thing we’ve run into is that he ~almost~ understands the house training. He knows that wherever I put the potty pads is where I want him to potty. So he moves the potty pads and pees on the floor where I put them. So close! Otherwise, he’s adjusting to his new home well.

I’ve officially been bit by the holiday season bug. I’ve already started buying new Christmas decorations for the house and a new Christmas tree (ours is broken). I’m thinking about taking the little 1 foot tree I have and putting it in Shanna’s room. I have a few sets of little bobbles and tree skirts for it that go together, and I can get some more if she wants something else. It’s pre-lit, so that’ll be easy.

I’ve finally gotten the last of our outfits for our Family photos. This year its green and gold. Matt finally realized that I color code the holidays; whatever color we wear in the family photos I get that same color wrapping paper and bobbles and lights for the tree. we did red first, last year we did blue, and now its green and gold. It makes it easier to timeline pictures, and while right now it won’t be a big deal, when we start having kids it will be.

This year the gifts might just be green. I’m having the hardest time finding green and gold wrapping paper, though. Maybe I’ll do gold paper and green ribbon, or do bags. I think the bags will be fine for everyone except Shanna and the Santa presents.

We’ve been getting a good amount of rain the past few weeks. Don’t get me wrong, I know we need it, but it’s a lot and my driveway isn’t level, so I’m wearing rainboots to my car everyday. God forbid I leave them in the car on accident, then I have to go out there barefoot to get them, and that water is freezing!!

Our house warming party went well! Dad and Christy got us this really adorable picture frame with a chalkboard in the middle. Matt’s parent’s showed up late, they got caught at an auction, so they didn’t get to meet my dad. They did get to play Jack Box Party Pack with us and a couple friends.

Last thing that’s going on in the Bates family is the Christmas musical. Tomorrow night is the first rehearsal. I signed up for it, I don’t know what I want to do though. Costuming might be fun! Or hair and make-up. It’s an adult/youth performance, not children I don’t think.

Ok, well, I’m gonna have to end it here. Remember to be kind to everyone you meet, and that you are loved more than you know!!

New Puppy!!

So, this weekend, Matt and I grew our family with a new furbaby! This is Cerberus, our German Shepard/Akita mix.

He’s really little now, but he should grow to be close to 65 pounds or so. I have a couple more pictures on here as well, and I’ll add more too as he grows.

Cerberus was a bit of an impulse to be honest. We had talked about getting a dog before, but we had decided not to just yet, and to get a dog from the shelter full grown, not a puppy. One of my brothers had a friend whose dog had puppies recently. He wasn’t able to take care of them with his work, so they wanted to give them to loving homes. Brother called me, I said we’d think about it, and 2 days later Matt and I got a puppy.

That’s the most exciting to happen to us so far since the move. He is doing great, we went to the vet this morning for a new puppy visit. He got some heartworm medicine, the first round of shots, and his little nails trimmed, and the vet said he was a perfect gentleman.

This week we’re having our house warming party as well. We’ll have a few friends over and some family, too, and Matt is gonna grill some burgers. It’ll be nice to have people over for the first time, and for the puppy to socialize.

In other news, I’ve started looking for a new job. I love what I do now, and I’ve said before I didn’t want to leave, but I’ve come to a point where I need to focus on our finances. I know that you shouldn’t chase money, but sometimes the money comes first. I’ll still volunteer with Tri-Rivers as much as I can. I know I’ll miss it, but this is something I’ve been struggling with for a while.

I’ve also started ordering things for Shanna’s birthday party. Just some random decorations and plates and such not. I need to get a couple card tables and chairs for the kiddos and adults. And some outdoor seating. I got a lot to do…

I’m gonna end this here guys! Remember to be kind to everyone you meet, and you are loved more than you know!!

Took a Small Break

So, this is going to be a short one. I’m still healing a bit from everything, but hopefully I’ll be back to tip top next week.

So a bit of backstory, my great-grandma has been in a nursing home for about 6 years. She had a series of strokes that left her unable to use the left side of her body. A couple weeks ago the home called us to let us know she was in decline, and would likely pass within the week. We were all able to go visit her, though she wasn’t aware after a day or so. We went to say our goodbyes, and that Saturday she went to be with Jesus.

It was heartbreaking for a lot of us. She was the last of her siblings, so the extended family had a moment of disbelief. We’re all doing better now, and it helps to know that she’s not suffering anymore, and that she can see her siblings and husband and everyone again.

Last Tuesday was her service, and Matt and I hosted a meal afterwards since we live in town and have a nice big living area.

So that’s where I was last week. I really do try to be consistent, even though I know there’s not really many following. I mean, who follows blogs anymore? But I do this for me more than anything else. It’s goo to build habits and to stick with them.

So, I’m gonna leave it there. I’ll be back next week, but until then, I hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend, and that you all have a great and safe week ahead of you. I know that schools should all be starting now, so I will continue to keep our students and school staff and parents in my prayers.

Remember to spread kindness and joy, and that you are loved more than you know!

More Birthday Planning

So, for Shanna’s birthday, Matt and I decided to do a room make-over for her: new bedding, decorations, curtains, furniture, the whole shebang. Now, because we don’t have her full time, none of these things are going to be worn down before her tastes change, so we’re going with a very neutral color and decor scheme. She’ll have black or grey furniture, and grey black-out curtains and comforter, but we have bright solid color sheets she can change out and fun colored sheer curtains as well. Most of this stuff we already have, like a cube shelf in black with a rainbow of fabric cubes, and 2 out of 4 of the sheets we wanted, as well as 2 different comforters and the black out curtains. I believe my aunt is getting her a rug and maybe a set of sheets, and my mom is getting her furniture, either a full bedroom set, or a bed and a chair/beanbag for a reading nook.

Matt’s parent’s are also getting Shanna a little vanity so she can dry her hair in the mornings easier (our house was built in the era where they didn’t put outlets or fans in the bathroom), and I think his sister is going to get some random decorations, like posters/pictures, a clock, etc.

We’ve also worked out the last little details of her party. I’ve got the date picked out and I’m going through her wishlist right now. We won’t get her that Friday, instead Matt will pick her up Saturday morning and have some tie just them for a bit. I will be home getting her room set up and the party together.

Now for my birthday, we have 2 different plans. 1 is to go to Oklahoma for a weekend and visit a Casino, or 2 haunted roadtrip through Texas! I love horror movies and haunted house and everything, and there’s so many paranormal locations in Texas that I’ve never been to. We did decide that if we do the ghost tour, we’ll do it in the spring instead of in October with my birthday, just so there aren’t as many people.

Now I have a plan for Matt’s birthday, but I haven’t worked out all the details. Unfortunately, Matt reads some of these posts, so I can’t tell everyone. I know he’ll love it if I can only get this one thing to workout.

So fun fact about me, I’m a planner. It’s what I do. I plan things so far in advance, like Shanna’s birthday party has been in my calendar for about a month now, and it’s not until November. So, with that in mind, I’m already planning everyone’s Christmas gifts.

This year, we have Shanna for Christmas, and it’ll be the first Christmas we have together as a family where we aren’t rooming with someone. I know Matt is excited, and I’m keeping with the tradition of getting him a gift with the intention of tears. Last year I got him a photo album filled with pictures of Shanna from when she was a baby to last Christmas. We’ve added a few more pictures throughout this year as well.

For Father’s Day, he got a star map of the night Shanna was born. This year, I gotta find something else. Maybe I’ll give him a pregnancy announcement…

Probably not that lol, we aren’t quite there yet.

I’m just excited to be able to start our own family traditions for Christmas, even if it is a bit late. I know that this is probably the last Christmas we’ll have with Shanna still believing, but we can still something new, right?

I think I’m gonna have to leave it here for now. Be kind to everyone you meet, and remember you are loved more than you know!

Back to School

So today is Shanna’s first day of school, and we are so excited! Her teacher this year actually worked with her a bit last year, so it’s a familiar face! We also finally know what new protocol her school is implementing. The kids will be eating their meals in the classrooms instead of the cafeteria, and students are going straight to their teachers in the morning. We also had to fill out screenings for them every morning.

I’ve said this before previously, but I’m not too worried about Shanna getting COVID. I’ve already had it, and if its contagious as long as they say it is, she’s been exposed to it multiple times since we have her every week and I’m the one who typically picks her up and drops her off. Her immune system has developed a natural vaccine against it already, so IF she gets it, Shanna will bounce back quickly. Also, she’s a really healthy kid, so she’ll be fine. She’ll basically just have the flu, and she and I will do her school work together at home since I’ve already had it, but her mom and step-dad haven’t.

That’s what the plan is I think if they have to quarantine, Shanna is coming to us since I have more flexibility with my schedule to work with her, and I can easily go to working from home. Honestly, we’ve wanted her to be with us and do online learning anyway, but we don’t usually get what we want with her.

In other news, Matt and I have started planning a weekend trip for my birthday! We’re going to Ardmore, OK. The biggest reason is to visit a casino there. Neither of us have ever been and we think it’ll be fun. We’d also only be about 2 hours from 6 Flags, so we’ll probably stop there for a bit on the way back. Other than the casino, there’s a national park and a military museum we want to visit. It’s going to be a great weekend!

I’m gonna leave at that for now. Remember to be kind to everyone you meet, and that you are loved more than you know!!