Have You Met the Duggars?

The Duggars are a Christian family (reality series on TLC) with 17 children and one on the way. This show is intriguing to me for several reasons: The children are always happy, the family is kind and courteous, the family runs like clock-work, and they do everything to the glory of God. This family may seem odd to some as they appear "outdated," but they are merely conservative Christians. Without saying we should all live exactly like The Duggers... I would like to point out... The Duggars display attitudes and values that should resonate with all viewers rather they be Christian or not. Below is a list of the Duggar Family Guidelines. These rules are truly admirable and worthy of emulation. 

1. Always use soft words, even when you don’t feel well.
2. Always display kind actions and joyful attitudes, even if you have been mistreated. Have the right response by quickly forgiving others in your heart even before they ask.
3. Always be enthusiastic and look for opportunities to praise others' character.
4. Always deflect praise and be grateful to God and others for the ways they have benefited your life.
5. Always use manners and be respectful of others and their belongings.
6. Always do what is right, even when others may not, or when no one is looking.
7. Thank God for how He made you, for what He has given you and everything He allows you to go through. (Romans 8:28)
8. Don’t mock or put others down. Develop compassion and pray for others.
9. Never argue, complain, or blame. Quickly admit when you have done wrong and ask for forgiveness (even if you were only 10% at fault). Don't wait till you’re caught. Be sure your sins will find you out. He who covers his sin will not prosper, but he that confesses and forsakes it shall find mercy.
10. Have a tough accountability/prayer partner to daily share your heart with and to keep you in line (your parents, spouse). The power of sin is in secrecy.
11. Be attentive and look for ways to serve others with sincere motives and no thought of self-gain.
12. Think pure thoughts (Philippians 4:8, Romans 13:14).
13. Always give a good report of others. Don't gossip! Never tale-bear unless physical harm will come to someone. (Use Matthew 18.)
14. Never raise a hand to hit.
15. Never raise a foot to kick.
16. Never raise an object to throw.
17. Never raise a voice to yell.
18. Never raise an eye to scowl.
19. Use one toy/activity at a time. Share!
20. Do your best to keep your surroundings neat, clean and organized.
21. Never let the sun go down on your wrath. (Don’t go to bed angry or guilty)
22. Amendment J.O.Y. - 
           Put Jesus first, Others second, Yourself last.                                                                                                                                         

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I promise you'll be amused if you don't laugh out loud. 

Never Ending Past

Every other week for the past couple of months I’ve been dreaming that I am back in high school experiencing my “times of yore” all over again. The dreams are so frequent and vivid that I’m beginning to resent them regardless of the fact nothing terrible happens to me or anyone else. I’m with my same friends, same teachers, and living the same exact life. This may sound odd or even a little boring, but it bugs me because I’m the last person to believe in dreams having a subconscious or intrinsic meaning, and blah, blah, blah… but considering these dreams are so common I’m beginning to believe they could maybe, possibly mean something. I have only 3 guesses, and they are feeble guesses at that, considering I’ve given them approximately 4 to 5 minutes of thought.

Maybe these dreams are nightmares? I will never forget the stifling parts of high school, I mean with the “no pants” rules (wearing hose EVERYDAY) and not being allowed to watch PG-13 movies or even go to the movies for that matter. We were taught that contemporary Christian music is distasteful and unpleasing to the Lord along with any other type of music carrying a beat. Sounds rough doesn’t it? To be fair, I can understand some of the rules from those Christian school days… but some rules I look at now and can’t fathom how I ever comprehended a relationship between those rules and Christianity. Maybe some of them were for building discipline… or was that discretion? Ok, so I’m kidding… it wasn’t that bad, in fact I honestly had a great time; However, It’s interesting how much I’ve grown in regards to my relationship with God (and love for other people) now that I’m no longer in that environment.

Maybe I’m missing my old girlfriends? Now to redeem myself with the girlfriends I love in Yankee country… I will feel the same about you in 8 months (sniff sniff)! Moving on… These gal pals of mine were closer than sisters. We did everything together (including college majors and minors) and laughed more in 7 years than most people do in a lifetime. We even started to look alike and developed an esoteric sense of humor. Our nickname in college (the most popular one) was Cut, Copy and Paste. Needless to say, we were Chribonnia Tsiblairson and we share a zillion, side splitting memories that will stick with me forever. I could see missing them as a component to my never-ending dream.

Now for my final theory: Maybe I’m just in a dream rut? And… this theory would prove that my dreams have no real purpose and my subconscious is merely having a creativity block… similar to a writer’s block! Hmm… who knows!

SNL favorite

Waylayed by Monday

I am under attack, and it's all my fault. I'm tired and slow today... very tired and very slow. My reason... an extremely over-booked weekend. I am so determined to take advantage of every second of our time here in New England that I book the weekends (even weeks) full. Friday we had dinner with friends and celebrated two very precious birthdays. Saturday morning I styled a girlfriend's hair for a wedding, immediately left to party at Chuck E Cheese :) and then went to the river for the Head of the Charles. We came home just in time for the beginning of a girls' night out (12 of us). Oh... important side note- Judice fell on her face in front of everyone; I guess it was some sort of kick-off the night stunt! Girls' night in the North End ended late... Church came early the next morning, followed by lunch, followed by apple picking and all of the events at the farm including hayrides and apple cider donuts! Sunday evening ended with dinner, lively conversation with new friends and a slideshow of Hawaii... and a major loss for the Red Sox, which up here is super depressing.

It was the perfect weekend to be honest. I loved every second... so who cares that I'm worthless today, slow and didn't sleep or go to the grocery store leaving apples as our main source of nutrition.

I'll be vegging tonight and enjoying the DVR'd SNL... maybe I'll have some favorites to post!

Flip and Princess Peaches

Flip and Princess Peaches over the years (and yes that would be only 3 years : ) We were engaged in July of 2006 and married on June 2^nd, 2007. I love the progression of my hair… shorter… shorter… short! Enjoy…

"Inappropriate" Princess

Let me just start by sharing... I demolished a piece of Trader Joe’s Quintessential Berry Crumble Pie this morning for breakfast. I never buy sweets or junk food… and this is why! Thankfully, I’ll be at the gym later with a friend to share my confession. Should I mention the piece I had last night… I digress.

 Speaking of last night, Flip and I lead a Life Community group that meets twice a month to discuss the current sermon series at our church. We love Life Community because our group diversity allows us to enjoy motivating and unique discussions. Occasionally we must re-focus ourselves (Flip is great for re-focusing… go figure) and return to the topic at hand while referencing the Scripture. In our restricted eyes this group is perfect… (in reference to my prior post)… we need each other! This week’s study involved kindness. There is a distinct difference between niceness and kindness. I believe kindness is from the heart and follows through with true love. Sometimes hearing “kill them with kindness” is mistaken for niceness, which could potentially involve pleasantries used to anger “our enemies.” Being nice is certainly not evil… but being kind is sincerely better. Hope you enjoyed the recap of our study (now everyone knows I paid attention!)

However, every time we meet for study there is always a moment (or 2, or 3, or 10) in which I must... want, no need! to express my amusement (at something off-track, random, inappropriate even) by laughing uncontrollably. I’ve managed so far to contain myself… most of the time… but last night Flip was giving a spiel about kindness, and right in the middle of his sentence he used the word: LUBRICANT. My eyes immediately dashed towards the eyes of a friend I knew would share the improper mutual understanding (so to speak) in my mind, and our eyebrows reached for the ceiling :) I left it with a smile and comical expression… but come on Flip, you asked for that one! On the way home we were laughing about it… and Flip said, “Dear, you know that is a normal word used often and in the appropriate context.” Ohhhh Pleeeaaase :) Thankfully, after discussing my gutter mind with the same friend (let’s start calling her Judice) she had this response, “It’s the way God made you, and seriously who uses that word!” Thanks Judice! 

 Love, Princess Peaches

Working from Home...

I love my job. It's the perfect situation for any military wife. I can work from anywhere in the world as long as I have my laptop or blackberry, Internet connection, conference call line, and various design/database programs. Lately, I've noticed the more I distance myself from home... the more work I accomplish. If I live the nomadic lifestyle during the day I tend to focus on "work tasks." Laundry, cleaning, listening to a television, making personal calls to the family I love dearly are all impossible to do from "public" locations (haven't figure out how to avoid my blog yet!) 

I also realize how much I love being around people... I mean just in the presence of other people. If I go down to the clubhouse and work alone, I'm comforted by the fact there are other people in the office a few feet away. It's interesting how we are designed to need other people. I find it the same in my Christian life. I'm comforted knowing that Christ is always with me... even when we aren't talking (or I'm not talking... I know God speaks to us... but clearly not in the same form). It is a comfort and peace that will stay with me forever. The same goes for my husband... when we are home and he needs to study while I'm on the computer/watching TV/or cleaning something, he puts on his noise cancellation headphones just to be in the presence of Princess Peaches (now remember we are still newlyweds! : ) I don't care what anyone says... I believe we will be like newlyweds until death do us part! 

Off to a conference call... 

 

I can't walk!!!

So... I joined LA fitness with the notion to simply mix up my work-out routine. Currently a 3 mile run at about 6.0 is my norm... sometimes I do a little more and sometimes a little less :) but regardless, I assumed I was in decent or even pretty good shape. So of course I tell the trainer, "Oh I'm fine... no super difficult goals, I'm just here for the party" and give him a smile conveying what I'm sure is a mutual understanding that I'm not someone who really needs to be here. I would love to know what was going through his mind then... knowing what I know now! He found the situation quite entertaining as Princess Peaches got her wake-up call!

Unfortunately, my body fat percentage is higher than my BMI (also learned BMI is so 5 years ago) and I am in "fair" condition according to the LA fitness standard sheet! Maybe you think "fair" is not so bad... well so did I, until I saw the progression of the chart: Excellent, Good, Fair, and then Poor. So... the lesson here: LA fitness has an amazing sales pitch. After you learn your body fat percentage, there is no getting out of there! I'm not even over-weight... but you should have seen how many seconds it took me to sign up!

Had my training session (wore makeup and my pink, Nike shirt that says: ATHLETE... which in and of itself is funny) and took my session seriously, or as seriously as I possibly could. Since that day I have not been able to take the stairs or sit down properly on the toilet :) hence the title of my post!

Boat Ride (date w/stranger in the middle of lake)

I love this one... minus the ending. The song will be in your head :)

SNL: Sisters Skit

Enjoy: This is Hilarious

"The Hills" in New England?

Wednesday I met a friend in town for lunch (considering I work from home it's a rare occasion that I'm dressed and wearing makeup by lunchtime), and it happened to be the perfect Fall day so we were able to sit under a little umbrella to chat and eat our low-carb, weight management salads. For a nonsensical moment I felt as though I could be on "The Hills" reality show. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with "The Hills," it's a (scripted) reality show following a California girl living in LA with her fashionable friends as they experience constant drama and cry about their boyfriends. I am truly embarrassed to admit "The Hills" is a scheduled recording on my DVR :) But in every episode there is a lunch scene similar to the one I shared with my friend on Wednesday. 

The more I compared our lunch date with "The Hills" the more humorous this comparison became. So let's break this down... on the show conversations usually involve: night clubs, "drama drama drama," Brody's new girlfriend, fashion week and of course who is stabbing whom in the back. On the flip side, our conversation that day involved: issues at work (our jobs are real), an in-depth discussion of fertility and OBGYN appointments, the shared point that our husbands are working too hard, dieting, and when we should take the New Hampshire foliage train ride and go apple picking. So why don't I have my own reality show??? I mean if the latest dress from Ann Taylor isn't high fashion then I don't know what is- and don't forget the Banana Republic Outlet and designer Coach bag! :) Needless to say, I love my life, my friends, and the real issues I must face and dissect with my gal pals. So, I'm more than OK not living the life of "The Hills." 

* Another small story for today: Last night I was taking a bath and noticed some unwarranted soap scum I've been desperately trying to get rid of (being the cleaning freak I am). I recalled a tip I'd heard from a friend and yelled for Flip to bring me the magic eraser. Of course he thought I was crazy for wanting to clean while taking a bath, but even he was impressed at the true magic of the magic eraser. You have to try it!! It will save you a lot of scrubbing time!

Blogging for the first time (as Princess Peaches)...

I have to admit... in college as a Communications/PR major I created a blog on blogspot.com for one of my writing classes, and much to my dismay this blog is still idly sitting in cyberspace. Of course, it's lacking any sense of depth or character (knowing me... I did it last minute and met the minimum requirements of the assignment) so considering it no longer portrays Princess Peaches, I will not share the address that links to this wasted web space. I was, however, able to enjoy a bit of nostalgic laughter! 

So who is Princess Peaches?... Or who in their right mind would name themselves something so seemingly vain and infantile? If you know me and you're thinking "she would," I'm hurt ;) But to explain the name... It has been bestowed upon me by my wonderful husband, Flip. Flip loves the morning like an old man, and me... not so much. In fact NOT AT ALL. So mornings for us can be comical/rough/interesting/unpleasant. It's the only time of day I get away with being a total.... (fill in the blank.) So of course calling me Princess Peaches is the perfect "sarcastic" diffuser for any bad mood. I mean, what girl doesn't love being called a Princess? I'm always left smiling and satisfied... "That's what she said." (oh... yeah, I'm an Office fan) 

I'm a 20 something, social, loving, discerning girl from North Carolina living in the Boston area with my handsome husband... Flip is an intelligent, practical, patient, kind Naval Academy grad serving this wonderful country as an officer in the US Navy. However, he is currently taking a 2 year hiatus to pick up a Masters in Engineering (Aeronautics/Astronautics) from the infamous MIT. So... yes, I am totally married to a Rocket Scientist! 

There is "oh so very much more..." but that's what this whole blogging thing is for, right?