Ultimate Blog Party 2009

5 Minutes for Mom is hosting a week-long bloggity extravaganza (click on the button for more info). I'm in the mood for a little online fun and fellowship so here's my official Blog Party post.

Hi, my name is Chelsea. I've been blogging since January 2006, although the original blog was over here. I'm not one of those big name bloggers, but I write when I'm needing some verbal therapy or when I want to record the funny things my kids say and do.

I'll be 38 next week, which kind of feels like a milestone for some reason. I grew up in a suburb of Los Angeles but never really loved it there. So when I was a senior in high school I applied to a bunch of colleges that were out-of-state. I got accepted to schools in New York and Missouri, but I don't deal well with cold weather so I accepted a spot at Trinity University in San Antonio.

That decision changed my life.

My mom and I flew to Texas and arrived on campus. I had already shipped most of my stuff so I went to the student center to pick up my boxes. I was greeted by the smilingest person ever who was wearing a shirt that said, "You know who loves you? Jesus." I almost cried. You see, I had become a Christian at 14 but there were days when I felt like the only Christian in all of Los Angeles. (I know that's not true. But it FELT true.)

I immediately got involved with the Navigators, another decision that changed my life. I spent the next four summers working for the Navs in Colorado Springs as a counselor at Eagle Lake camp and as an intern at NavPress and Discipleship Journal. Those were the absolute best months of my life in terms of growth and fellowship.

When I was a senior in college I was managing editor at our campus newspaper. We hired a junior named Kevin to sell ads, and he and I slowly became friends. On April Fool's Day 1993 he asked me out on a date, but he wasn't joking. We dated a little, I graduated and moved to Colorado, and three months later I moved back to San Antonio to find a job and be with Kevin.

We've been married for 13 years and haven't killed each other yet.

On our fourth anniversary Kevin took me to a swanky dinner at a local steakhouse. Out of the blue he said, "So, just to make sure we're on the same page, we're not ready for kids yet, right?"

I started crying.

I was pregnant one month later.

Kendra is now 9 and is tall, beautiful, and has size 6.5 feet in women's shoes. She's my Holy Spirit in human form, because God uses her words and actions, both good and bad, to convict me.

Caelyn is almost 8 years old and is a fireball of silliness. She loves to cook and critique my cooking. She also has the longest, thickest eyelashes that make her look like she's wearing eyeliner.

David is 5 and our caboose. We had originally wanted four children until David arrived. He has the energy and propensity for destruction of two kids, so we're all done. He's addicted to Webkinz and the Wii, which concerns me a little. We recently discovered that he can subtract when he was reading the sports scores and could tell me that the Spurs won by 8 points. Basketball math - I love it.

And Kevin, my hubby, has the strongest work ethic of anyone I've ever known. I'm not a morning person so Kevin gets up early and feeds the kids breakfast. Then he works 10 or 11 hours, comes home, and often bathes the kids before he even eats dinner himself. His energy runs out around 10 o'clock, though, when he reads the newspaper and falls asleep on the living room floor.

I'm a Spurs fan. I'm OCD about clutter. I'm a procrastinator. I do impressions of people to make my husband laugh. I love to cook. I'm a loyal friend. I love earthtones, especially reds and greens. I used to teach high school journalism and wish I'd done a better job. Now I'm a freelance curriculum writer and copy editor.

Most importantly, I want to be like Jesus but I struggle with having an academic faith. Sometimes I talk about that here, too.

I'm impressed if you read all this. It was a little wordy -- usually I'm not so verbose. I hope you come back and read some other posts. If you do, please comment! I like to know I'm not talking to myself.

(Oh, and since the blog party is offering prizes, here's my wish list:
#58 - Kitchen Aid Artisan Stand Mixer in RED!
#89 - $100 gift card to HomeGoods
#19, 21, 22 - $50 gift card to Target
#88 - $40 gift certificate to Carraba's
#68 - $30 gift certificate to Christian Book Distributors
#26 - $30 gift card to Target
INTL 61 - $30 gift credit at Amazon.com
#91 - $25 gift card to Target
#113 - $25 gift card to Office Max
USC 47 - $25 gift credit to Amazon.com
#123 - $20 gift card to Kohl's)