Yes to fashion...or deny myself?

The only fun thing about fall is the fashion--at least in my opinion. Cashmere sweaters. Pull-on boots. Scarves. It almost makes the cold snap worth it. BUT I married a man who balks when I buy something I don't genuinely need...or spend money anyplace other than a thift shop! He even stretches out his contact dailies for months on end! It's been a huge challenge for me.
But it's also showed me what a huge learning curve I have in using my resources wisely. I could spend $30 on a new sweater...or send it to a child in a third world country through organizations like Compassion Intl. As a Christian I often struggle with guilt when desiring nice things. Right now I'm debating whether to purchase a new car. Is it selfish of me to want a new Mazda 5 when I could keep trying to maintain a '96 Camry? My husband wants to save our money to do something REALLY BIG for God's kingdom. His focus is maximal eternal impact.
What do you think? Do you feel bad to have more than the bare necessities?

"A" for Effort

Poor Jeff. I put him in charge of dinner duty this week since I'm working overtime. He was so excited to make homemade pizza tonight. He spent hours kneading the dough and letting it rise in the oven yesterday in preparation for tonight's dinner. The final result? In his words--not mine--"It's bad!" The pizza was, well, doughy. Grossly undercooked. But on the bright side, the toppings were great--fresh mozarella cheese, tomatoes, basil, mushrooms.
Jeff's now lying on the couch in defeat. He said it's his first and last time in the kitchen. Gosh...I hope not! I tried to encourage him on his effort and thanked him repeatedly for stepping up and trying to make a homecooked meal on a week where I'm slammed at work. But as we cleaned up in the kitchen tonight, Jeff said, "Catherine, this makes me appreciate what you do for our family every night." Wow. Who cares about inedible pizza? That acknowledgment filled me up this evening.

Where the wild things are...

Jeff & I got a little frisky at the zoo tonight! Our spirits were high as we toasted Mr. & Mrs. Radovanovic as they began their new life together. The zoo's a perfect place for a wedding celebration...How fun to traipse around wild animals in dressy clothes! Despite the rain, the kids had a blast playing hide-and-seek throughout the zoo since it was closed to the public. I especially enjoyed watching the giraffes past moonlight, munching on dinner in their cages. What gorgeous creatures...(Hey, speaking of gorgeous, is my husband cute or what?!).

When the DJ called all the single ladies to the dance floor for the bride to toss her bouquet, some locked themselves in the bathroom and others hid in the back...but Delaney and her friend were front and center--and actually caught the bouquet! It was pretty funny.
But my FAVORITE part of the evening was connecting with the bride's stepmom, Jill. Out of the blue, the Lord blessed me with a soul sister. We shared a heart to heart from one stepmom to another. Finally--a woman who truly understands my journey! I cried tears of relief after our conversation...our journeys have been strikingly similar...and she shared such pearls of wisdom, I'm spending the rest of the evening pouring all she shared into my diary.
Thank you, Jesus, for turning my no good, very bad Friday into a so good, very great Saturday!

Going to the chapel...

...and going on Safari! My small group is in a baking frenzy this weekend to make dessert for our small group leader's wedding. Instead of having a single ginormous wedding cake, they asked friends to contribute their own unique wedding cake creations. According to the groom, it's a southern tradition...And I have the most fun job of creating cupcakes for the kids! Since the reception's at the zoo, I topped the cupcakes with safari animals!
It's really relaxing for me to be in the zone of baking. I woke up early this morning, spent some time with the Lord...and then cranked up some music so that I could forget about my worries and just blast that icing away. I love being creative with fun food! BTW, I made some coffee this morning, forgetting I'm out of creamer and my fridge isn't working well anyway...so I threw in a dollop of icing. Not bad! Try it sometime!

One of those days...

One of my favorite books of all time is "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day." I'm having one of those days. It started at 5:00 this morning when my car wouldn't start. I woke up my not so chipper husband to take me to work. He was a little grumpy when he returned home and was able to easily jump my car and thought I just forgot to flip off my car light. Right? Wrong.
Our lovely office manager at 91.5 WCIC (love ya, Katie!) drove me home to retrieve my car and it wouldn't start again! So she graciously drove me to my doctor's appointment. I endured a painful and expensive procedure with inconclusive results. Great. When that was over, I called my husband to pick me up from the doctor's office and take me to get the car fixed.
At this point Jeff was very apologetic for being in a bad mood and was incredibly sweet. The highlight of my day? Getting a hug from my husband. Another low point of my day? Taking my '96 Camry to the mechanic who's so sick of my car problems, he doesn't even want to fix them. He advised that I buy a new car. It's gonna cost several hundred dollars to fix everything that's wrong. Is it worth it? Well, I don't have a lot of leisure time to make this decision.
I was actually planning on driving to Chicago to see my parents one last time before they leave for Hawaii. Now that's out of the question.
So I figured I should get started on those cupcakes I promised to make for a wedding tomorrow! Jeff & I rushed to the store to purchase baking supplies so I could get started on the treats. However, when I stepped foot in the kitchen, a puddle spanning half the kitchen floor pooled around my heels. Ugh...the refrigerator is broken, too!
So as I type this, I'm sopping wet from kitchen clean-up. When will this day end??? I broke down and cried for a few minutes.
I think I'll put everything aside for now, take a deep breath, and PPRRAAAAAYYYYY super hard for the Lord to give me patience and trust that even though my life is messy at the moment, He will see me through and someday everything will make sense. What I really want to do is throw my dishes at the door to vent frustration...but that'll just lead to more clean-up!