#1 The Perfect Day (Getting to know a girl named Carrie)

Hey there people being so far away from everyone often times I feel like I'm becoming a memory. I feel like my friends I used to know are changing as am I, but I have no idea of how or why. I don't know what's going on in their heads. Let's get right down to it...everyone could say they would e-mail me and let me know how life is, but life is busy and after the first or second e-mail you have other things to do...I totally understand. So I've decided to put together a series called, Getting to know a girl named Carrie. You can read this if you like and if not no problem. I will be posting different things that you may or may not know about me throughout the year. I will try to do one a week in between my other posts...but that is no promise. I miss everybody and hope you enjoy getting to know me.

Let me give you a run down of a normal day in my house so I can then explain what "The Perfect Day" would look like. I'm usually up sometime between 5:30-6:00am. I try to get up around 4:00-4:30 for a quiet time or workout, but that never happens. I usually get up and make the bed and get ready for the day. Then I start a load of laundry to soak while Preston an I have our hour coffee time, while I'm putting on my makeup. Most of you have heard me say this before but I suggest an hour of alone time with your husband on a daily bases. Preston and I have done this for years...even when he was a manager at a restaurant and would get home at 1am then have to leave for work at 7am. Even when we were pie bakers and we would have to get up by 4am to bake all the pies. This is a very special time that says I love you enough and care about what we have enough to make time for you. When coffee time is over Preston starts breakfast and I either start calendar time with the kids or have a quiet time. We eat and have family devotion and then the school day starts around 8:00-8:30.

I start the school day off with Raymond and at 11:00am we have an hour of teaching Joe and Caroline. Between 8:00-11:00 I pick up/clean bathrooms and hang clothes. At 12:00 we eat lunch and take a break. At 1:00 pm Raymond and Joe start back with school. Usually around this time I'm watching Judge Mathis and Judge Judy while ironing so the kids are working on things they don't need help with. Around 4 school is over and I let Caroline watch a series on 3-4 min learning programs on youtube that teach her about the alphabet, colors, counting and so on. Around 5:00 the kids are taking showers and finishing up projects for school if they have them. I start dinner at 5:00pm every night and it's usually on the table by 6:00pm (unless we have homegroup, then we eat a big lunch and snack for dinner). After dinner, it's time for clean up...the kids wash dishes and clean the kitchen mess as well as their rooms and the school room. Then we all either read or watch a little television depending on what they want...or what we want. All kids are in bed by 8:00pm. By the time they go to bed I'm usually exhausted and fall asleep on the couch by 9:30. It may not seem like a lot, but believe me, teaching is a full time job which can be draining, but I really do love it.

"The Perfect Day", for me, would have four extra hours so I could get everything done that I normally do and then have some extra "selfish" time for me. Also, I would like to add that "The Perfect Day" would not consist of me having headaches, which I have almost every day, sometimes so bad I'm sick to my stomach and have double vision.

The first hour would be spent on a quiet/bible reading time. I would love to read more of the bible and write sermons. I might also sometimes spend this time on listening to sermons so I get a better feel of how to write them and the different styles of preaching. I enjoy writing as well as listening and reading, so this first hour would just be dedicated to the Father. This would be a time of doing the things I enjoy with, through and for Him. I should really already be doing this, but often times I let life or Judge Judy get in the way...just being honest.

The second hour would consist of an entire uninterrupted hour of cleaning house. Preferably one room from top to bottom until it's spotless and beautiful. This may sound weird to you, but cleaning is a necessity here with all the dust constantly coming in. With the constant heat, headaches and everything else I'm doing during the day it's hard to clean like I need to. Granted I wouldn't need an hour every day for this, but on the days that I wasn't cleaning we could have a family/recreation time. So this hour would do double duty depending on the day.

The third hour would consist of an uninterrupted QUIET workout time. Whether it be an upbeat workout to get my heart racing or a slow workout to calm me down. This is something I want to have energy for, and need because as I get older, believe me when I say, I'm needing it. It can help with aches and pains I'm sure. Also, some time to myself working out may calm my nerves a little and would help me feel good about myself and my body. Not that I have huge problems with that, just that I know how good it feels to be in shape.

And the last hour...aaahhhhh...this hour would, again, be an uninterrupted hour of reading/studying. I would start off by studying an hour of Spanish a night, but when I had learned that I would switch to reading books. I prefer historical nonfiction (especially wars, historical leaders, historical events and the people effected by them) but I love many different kinds of books and would read whatever I had. I would read until I fell asleep and would get the much needed 8 hours of sleep...depending on how good the book was.

So there's "The Perfect Day" in the eyes of me. I hope you enjoyed learning something new about me. I would love to know what you would do with four extra hours, or what your perfect day looks like. Feel free to leave a comment telling me.