Time Out!

I have recently taken a time out from my social media. I was off of Facebook for 6 months, Instagram for a week and a half, and my blog for a month and a half. Sometimes a person just needs to focus on the important things in life! While I enjoyed my time away, I am excited about getting back to posting on my blog. You can probably expect 20-30 blog posts in the next few days :) just kidding! (I think)

Remember When?

Do you remember when I took off from blogging for about three months?  Well, I am still not caught up! I was very behind when I took a break and I have been struggling to keep up since then. Blogging is a hard task. I really like to stay ahead and post events as they happen, but I am finding it very difficult. So, I am giving my readers a fair warning. I am about to post a whole bunch of stuff that is from several months ago. My girls look so young in some of these photos! I just can't stand to not post this stuff. So, here goes...

Negligence...

I am so behind!!! I almost decided to quit blogging because I feel like I can't keep up my normal pace. I am an all or nothing kind of person (just ask my husband if you don't believe me) :) If I can't blog EVERYTHING, then I want to blog nothing. Jeremy encouraged me to keep going so here I am :) 

I would love to say that I have had noble reasons for not blogging: a fast from media, time spent in Bible study and prayer, or re-focusing my time and energy on family. The answer, though, is none of the above. I just haven't done it. I haven't felt like it. When the girls take a nap, all I want to do is clean my house. :) (Not really, but that will make my husband happy) :) 

Okay, enough jibber-jabber. My last post of 2012 is coming right up... (for real this time)

The Truth

The truth is that I will not be catching up after all. I guess all my stuff will just have to be posted after the new year! I usually set unattainable goals that I can never reach. Blogging 40-50 events in a week was not a reasonable goal with Christmas just around the corner. I wish I could learn from this experience to set more attainable goals, but I probably won't :) So, I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! (And a Happy New Year!)

Catching Up...

Well, I really don't know why I chose today to get back to blogging. It has been almost two months since my last post. Why not wait another two months? :) I guess I have a lot on my mind and just need to write.

Today will go down in the history books. Details are still emerging about everything that happened in the elementary school in Connecticut. A gunman walked into an elementary school where his mother taught kindergarten. He walked into her classroom and killed her and several of her students. He then killed himself. I am so saddened and angered by this, but I know who my God is.

My purpose of this post is not to re-hash everything that happened in that classroom, but to catch up on the life that we have been living since my last post.

I now have a 2 year old and a 6 month old. My living room, kitchen, and dining room look completely different than they did 2 months ago. We have laid Granny to rest. Ava and Greta now share the same bedroom (Officially!) We have a new niece (Kate) And I have lost 25 lbs. :)

Our lives are flying by faster than I can keep a record of. Blogging has become really difficult as of late. Chasing a 2 year old around the house and keeping a 6 month old occupied takes up most of my time. My house stays in disaster mode most of the time. When the girls take a nap, I either clean the house or take a bubble bath. Blogging has not been put on the back burner, it isn't even on the stove. Now that I am on thyroid medicine, I am hoping to have more energy and not feel so drained. Hopefully, blogging will get back on the stove :)

I guess that's it for now. I have a blog list of about 40-50 things that need to go on here before the new year. Expect to see about 10 posts a day. :)

Spitting Nails...

 Spitting nails is my new catch phrase. I have used it a lot the last few days and really feel like it sums up how I truly feel at times. I think I started saying it after I saw a preview of the new Steel Magnolias movie with an all african american cast. One of my favorite lines from that movie is when Shelby tells her momma, "You're ready to spit nails because you can't call the shots." I know I pick the most random and obscure stuff to talk about, but this is the Pate Potpourri. You know how sometimes a bag of potpourri will have a dried up pomegranate in the midst of all the little pieces of scented materials? Well, consider this post a pomegranate. :)

In my last little post, I said that I wanted to spit nails at someone from Shabbyblogs. The below pictures are why. I wanted my header to be the one with photos in it. I have seen the tutorial on how to do it and have done something similar many times before. For some reason, it did not work last night. I placed the photos and the header in foto flexer and tried to group it, merge it, decorate it, etc. It did not work. Jeremy finally had to come to the computer and resize the photos and give them the jagged edge that I wanted. When I tried to upload it to my blog, the image was too large. URGGG!!! So, I had to settle for the little shabby header on the bottom. I am not going to lie. I stomped my feet when I could not get it to work. I think I even yelled, "You stupid computer!" (poor computer, it wasn't HIS fault!) 

Yes, things like this bother me. I can sit through two screaming children while I am trying to eat, but I can't stand for something to be imperfect on my blog. Go figure! I am hoping that everyone has a little weird idiosyncrasy that they try to keep private in order to appear normal. I just told you mine, so now you now how completely abnormal I am. HaHa! Okay, let's all laugh this off and act like Brooke is okay! (Pretty Please?) :)

In all seriousness, I do believe my blog needs a reality check. Sometimes I read my posts and realize that everything sounds so peachy and completely normal. I am posting this little story to let everyone know that IT IS NOT ALWAYS PEACHY AND NORMAL! Sometimes it is pomegranate-y and abnormal! 

P.S. It really wasn't anyone's fault from shabbyblogs either. I just get too frustrated too easily :)

Coming Soon...

Several blog posts! After our family trip to Tennessee, for Polishing the Pulpit, I decided to take a month long hiatus from blogging. I took plenty of pictures during my month off, but just decided to not post until October. It has been a nice, needed break! I have downloaded pictures from my camera onto my computer and will be uploading these photos to my blog today during the girls' nap. I will hopefully start posting again by later this evening or tomorrow :) I have missed this so much, but am so happy that I decided to take off for a month. I feel like my creative juices are flowing again! Yay for creative juice! It tastes good! Ha! Okay, that was probably the cheesiest thing I could have said, but you get the idea! Until my next post...

Blowin' Up The Blog...

I have not blogged in over two weeks! It has been driving me crazy because I have a list of about 15 things that need to be recorded in July. I am cutting it really close, but I think I can get it all recorded by Saturday ( I won't be able to blog on Sunday or next week)

A few months ago, I was in the same predicament. I had about 15-20 things that needed to be blogged by the end of the month and I only had three days to do it. I sat down to do it and ended up doing 9 posts in one day! My friend Maggie and her husband Nathan called it, "blowin' up the blog." I thought it had a cute ring to it, so that is the name of my post!

So, expect about 15 posts within the next three days...(hopefully!!)

Every Burp and Toot

I can't be certain, but I think Bloggers get made fun of quite often (usually not to their face) I knew that when I started my blog. So, if you are reading this and you have made fun of me in the past, I don't mind. It really doesn't bother me. I just wanted to get that out there so that you don't think you are pulling one over on me!! :)

The thing I hear most often about personal bloggers is that we post "every burp and toot." I kind of laugh and own up to it. Yes, I blog several times a day and most of it is probably not important to anyone but my family and me. But I will continue to do this because my child (hopefully children) will be reading this one day. I think that blogging is a great tool for preserving memories and allowing children to get a glimpse of life from the perspective of someone other than themselves. And in this self-centered society, isn't that so important? Not to mention, my family LOVES knowing everything that goes on with Ava.

I guess I want to share some of my plans for this blog. I have made a list of several upcoming events that will definitely be among my titles, and then there are the really neat unknown things that happen and I think, "That would be a great blog entry." But I also want to share some spiritual things with Ava; things I am praying for, lessons I learn from Bible study, and people who influence me. These topics may not be a fun read for everyone else, but I want Ava and my family and friends to know that blogging is not just something I do to put myself "out there." You know what I mean. I am not trying to call attention to my life. Don't get me wrong, I have a great life. God has blessed me so much more than I could have ever imagined. But that is truly not why I blog. 

I will also be adding some "Gigi Stories." My mother is a great storyteller. She has had an amazing life and a wonderful memory to recall most of it. My sister and I grew up hearing all the unbelievable things that she did and experienced growing up. I want Ava to have those memories of my mom. I can't wait to share the first "Gigi Story!" :) (I have asked her permission, of course!)

So, I guess I am finished with all my thoughts. Until my next post...

The Pate Potpourri

Here is my first post in my new blog! I have been throwing around the idea of a blog for a few months now. My family lives in Texas and Jeremy's family lives in Tennessee. We keep in touch with them through Facebook and phone calls, but sometimes it just isn't enough. Sometimes, those little moments arise when we both think, "I wish Mom were here," or "I wish we could put all the details on Facebook." Well, a blog solves that problem! I don't have to stay on the phone for two hours with my mother to let her know the latest, and I don't have to delete phrases and sentences from Facebook because of the 200 character limit.

Well, I am not sure how I got on that tangent, but there it is. This morning I woke up and thought, "this is the day. I am going to start my own blog. What will I call it?" I quickly decided that it would be called the The Pate Potpourri. The Free Online Dictionary defines "potpourri" as: "a collection containing a variety of sorts of things." Hmm...well yes, that is pretty much what my blog will be. So there you have it. I just gave you the reason why I blog and why I settled on that name. (The other choice was The Pate Smorgasbord. It means the same thing as potpourri, but I did not want my blog readers to think of a hot buffet as they read my posts.) Until my next post...