LOVE IS....

Chelsea has begun making plans for her 1st "real" Valentine's Day. She has been working really hard trying to make sure that her special someone has a Happy Valentine's Day and I have to admit I have been having a really good time helping her. You know, to be 16 and excited about sharing the day of Love with someone who you think you could never live without, someone who makes you laugh, who makes you smile, and who you want to stay on the phone with all night, awww...those were the days! :) And so very innocent!
Skip forward to being someone of my age and love is something totally (ok, not totally! LOL)different. I have been thinking alot about what love means to me today. Hence, my post today...

LOVE IS....

LOVE IS....The smile on Chance and Chelsea's face that always melts my heart.
LOVE IS....The "I Love You" and kiss CC gives me on his way to work.
LOVE IS....Dad always checking to make sure Sis is ok. (One of his names for me.)
LOVE IS....Having lunch waiting on me every school day prepared by mom & shared with Mark.
LOVE IS....Sharing laughs and tears with my children, family and dear friends.
LOVE IS....Butterflies in the pit of my stomach because my kids make me swell with pride.
LOVE IS....The excited barking my dog does to greet me everyday.
LOVE IS....Being able to crawl behind the wheel of my car and take off because CC scrapped ice.
LOVE IS....11 p.m phone conversations w/Chance, eventhough they don't last long!
LOVE IS....Being able to act crazy around Chels and her friends and them liking me anyway. :)
LOVE IS....Other kids calling me mom, telling me good morning, or promising to marry me someday! (yes, it is true!)
And last thought tonight but definitely not the least one,
LOVE IS....God's forgiveness for every wrong I have committed.

I could probably go on and on with this post. I am so very blessed and so very lucky to be loved by some very special people in my life. I regret ever letting a minute go by without telling them how much they mean to me or how they have enriched my life. To my children, you are my life and there is not a day go by that I do not thank the Lord for allowing me to be your mom. To CC, I wouldn't ever want to do this love thing with anyone else. To my mom and dad, you have made me who I am and given me the biggest shoes to fill by the example you have been. To my friends, thanks for sharing the good and bad with me and to God, you are amazing! Thank you for everything!

Lesson Learned

This post - short and sweet.

Lessons learned:

1.) To DO and DO, gets you DO-DO!

2.) Your children ARE stepping stones for someone (actually lots of someones!)

3.) Everyone is NOT treated equally regardless of how many times you hear otherwise!

4.) You should always ask what you can do for someone else, cause they are waiting for you to.

5.) Lots of times, it's not the good, the bad and the ugly....because the BAD always win!

Long time, no blog!

Wow! It has been a while, hasn't it! We have been sooo busy with work, volleyball and now basketball that I haven't taken the time to blog. But since it is Christmas time and one of my most favorite times of the year, I thought I would pause a minute and blog. My love for the holidays definitely comes from my parents! My dad is always sooo giving all year but around the holidays he is AMAZING! I think this is because of my mom and her love for Christmas! He loves to make her happy, sooo Christmas is the perfect time for him to do this!
My mom absolutely loves the holidays! For as long as I can remember, she has worked extremely hard and for days decorating the house, shopping, wrapping presents, making candy, etc...She wants everything to be just perfect! AND it always is! She and I have this tradition that we get up way too early the day after Thanksgiving and literally shop til we drop! This is probably my greatest, most enjoyable time to spend with Mom! For many, many years to come, shopping with my mom the day after Thanksgiving will be one of my greatest memories. Chelsea has been old enough for a while to go with us but this year, now that she is almost 16, I got to enjoy this tradition with the 2 ladies I love the most in this world! We had sooo much fun and truly enjoyed just spending time together!

On another note, this month is also a busy month because Chelsea's parents didn't do a very good job planning her arrival into this world and she has a birthday on the 18th. She will be 16! Ugh! I can't believe my baby will be 16! We are having a little party for her this weekend and that should be a lot of fun once it's here and all of the stress of planning it is over with! Will post more on the party, hopefully with some pictures soon! Until then, enjoy the season! Lisa

Someone Special's Birthday!

October 7th is a special day for a very special lady in my life. It is my Mom's birthday! She has always been a wonderful mother but I marvel at the kind of friend she is to me. I vent to her, I cry on her shoulder, I laugh with her, and I travel (ALOT) with her to ballgames, etc. She amazes me at how unconditionally she loves me. (I know some of you may have a hard time believing this, but I am not the easiest person to put up with, much less love!) And yet, she does and I know she does! I am soooo thankful that God blessed me with such a wonderful person to share my life with and the lives of my children with. She is my biggest cheerleader and the best role-model that anyone could ever ask for.

Mom, I love you and I hope your day is as special to you as you are to me! Happy Birthday!

Is it finally clickin'?

Wow! Seems like it has been forever since I last blogged!! I have been busy watching Chelsea play volleyball. She has been playing at least twice a week almost since school started. Her team has struggled, they have struggled since 7th grade actually. I think although there are several GOOD athletes, there are no standouts. Because several of them are on the same playing field, there are a lot of hard feelings among them when it comes to playing time or being moved up to varsity for some games and then back to jv for others. I believe this has hindered their ability to play together as a team as they have matured and better developed their abilities and skills in the game. Jealousy can be a hard pill to swallow and it is especially hard on girls! I have made this comment to many people, " I can't ever remember a time when Chance came home with stories of dislike either on his part toward someone else or against him that he had found out about." There is ALWAYS controversy when it comes to girls! I promise being a teenage girl is a much bigger challenge than being a boy. Boys duke it out and it's done and over, girls go for the juggler and if you ain't bleedin', they ain't quitin' and they have several girls to help if needed.
The team played this week in the Childress Tournament. It was nice to be able to watch these girls actually win several games. The smiles on their faces lit the whole gymnasium. Chelsea gets this desire or competitiveness, from where I don't know (yeah, right!), and she plays to win. She is always a little more bummed out than most of her teammates and is often "HOT" when the other girls come off the court laughing and making plans for after the game as soon as they have lost their behinds on the court. This week in volleyball was enjoyable for the Campbells. Winnin' may not be everything but if you don't strive to be the best then why bother??!!

Flag drill team

Chelsea is involved in something new this year, at least new for her. She is on the flag drill team. It has been a while since Childress had flag girls in the band and she is thrilled to a part of their return. The drill team had a feature in the pep rally this week and then marched, sort of, with the band at halftime on Friday. I am proud of her courage in getting out there and doing this and also proud of the amount of time she has put into doing it well.

Caution...love hurts!

I know it's been quite a while since I posted last but anyone who knows me, knows writing is a sort of therapy and more for my sanity than any thing else. I write when I am happy, proud, excited, mad and sad. I use my written words to thank people for all they do for my family and/or me or both. I write because sometimes things are easier for me to say in writing than face to face ( it's a lot easier to erase the written word than to take something back that may have been said in haste or out of anger.) Writing also allows me to tell those who mean the most to me, how much they mean to me without getting choked up or chickening out. There is one thing about my writing you can be sure of, however, it's that it comes straight from the heart and shot straight from the hip and that I have chosen my words to express exactly how I am feeling right then at that very moment. I may offend you, provoke you, sadden you or make you smile and usually whatever you feel when you finish reading my blog is exactly what I hoped for when I wrote it in the first place. This being said I can get into the short blog I got on here to post in the first place today. It goes something like this:

This week has been a very trying one for me and several in my life. I learned AGAIN first hand that love hurts! I learned that it is not always best to put yourself out there...to care for someone or something the way you want them to care for you or someone you care about. It isn't always best to treat others as you would hope they would treat you or your loved ones. I learned that broken hearts CAN make you physically sick! I have learned that questions like who, what, when, where and especially why often go unanswered (or have no legitimate answers anyway). I have learned that each person acts differently to hurt and I am dealing with this too. Some are quiet, some loud, some cry, some shutdown, some curse and some of us, do a little of it all!! I just wanted to caution you all , love is great, love is kind BUT... love also sucks, love hurts and if you don't watch out, it might just sneak up and bite you on the butt. "THIS WEEK", LOVE... wasn't worth it!! Later, Lisa