Kansas Trip

We're here and we're busy!! Of course! :)

I've tried posting a few times with pictures from my phone but it won't upload for some reason. I also had an issue with my SD card and lost some pictures. Bummer! Oh well.

The kids and I are really having a blast despite the Kansas heat. It's been over 100 degrees everyday so we're busy staying cool inside although a swimming trip is planned soon. We're slowly discovering all the lovely ways for Noah to get into things in this house and making it a little more babyproofed. I didn't forsee this being so much of an issue.

We miss Daddy so much. Noah has especially had some bad nights here and with Abigail having a lingering cough it has made for some long nights. I am looking forward to Daddy getting here so he can at least deal with Abigail's issues at night! :) He might not know this. Haha!

Schechter's Visit

This last week has been fun and busy! Andrew has had lots of family visiting from out-of-town. His Uncle and Aunt and their families were here for the last week. Lots of get togethers and eating of course, etc. We also got several good games of tennis in as well! I love a good tennis game.

Anyway, they left today. Sad to see them go but thankful for a wonderful visit!

Now I'm very busy preparing to travel to Kansas on Monday to visit my parents, Grandma and brother. The kids and I will be there almost 3 weeks so I'm taking the packing very seriously! I don't want to bring too much but I definitely don't want to forget anything essential. I made some headway on it today and so that made me feel better.

Andrew's mom is going to help me drive the kids out there (bless her!) and Andrew is going to fly out for the last week and then drive us back. I don't think I'm quite ready to drive three kids 4 and under for 850 miles! I can picture myself being able to do it someday but . . . not yet!

I'll try to blog during the trip but no guarantees. Hopefully I will remember to take pictures, etc, although I'm bad at that too!

Personality Part 2: Energized!

This is probably one of the more well know parts of personality: Extroversion vs. Introversion. I think people can misunderstand it, though. Being an extrovert doesn't necessarily mean you're the life of the party or you talk loud or are boisterous. I was raised in a self-controlled and conservative family so I'm not usually loud in a crowd or wild and crazy! I just get my energy from being around other people. Introversion, on the other hand, doesn't mean you're a weird recluse (I have to remind myself of this! haha!) but it just means you gather energy by being alone and quiet. Like . . . batteries.

When my husband and I first took these personality tests I was 90% extrovert and he was 90% introvert. Ha! This is one of those categories that has softened a little over the years. I'm now about 61% Extrovert and I don't remember his but I don't think it's quite where it was. I've learned that I can enjoy the peace and quiet (have kids taught me this!) but it is a conscious plan on my part. I still do not like being alone for too long. Having children has helped this, especially as they've grown and can converse now. I remember times when my husband traveled before we had kids and the horrible feeling of having to spend an evening alone!!

We've found a balance through the years of Andrew going to bed shortly after the kids are in bed to recharge himself and I do things for myself too to enjoy my "people" time. I have been going to exercise class, mom's groups, getting together with friends, having people over and even saying to Andrew "can we talk?". And by that I don't mean it is something serious, I just mean, I haven't talked to another adult all day! Help! :)

I feel that this is one of the personalities differences that we really understand in each other, recognize the need, and try to fill it. It's a good balance now, although I can always use more people time so if you're in my area, stop by!!! :)

Personality Part 1: Approaching Life

I have been doing A LOT of reading about differing personalities lately because the subject is absolutely fascinating to me. I have been using the Myers/Briggs test to "label" my personality and my husband has taken the test as well. We knew we had opposite personalities when we got married and even after 9 wonderful years of marriage, we're still learning about each other, as everyone is. I have found the study of personalities to be so helpful to this cause!!

I do believe personalities can change a bit over time. I will address this more in another post.

Here's the link if you want to take the test yourself:

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp

I'm going to start out with my strongest personality trait: Judging/Planning. I am around a 90% Judging/Planning personality type. Thankfully my husband is right on the border at 50% (he understands both sides of this issue) but is slightly on the side of the Perceiver/Journeyer (more of a free spirit . . . life is an adventure type of person).

The Judging/Planning personality traits that I identify with:

• I am extremely conscious of time and schedules.
• This is extreme in me . . . so much so that if I'm at the store and I have plans to be somewhere (even if it's not important) after I finish my shopping and I find myself running out of time, I will leave without getting everything on my list! Weird, I know but my inner calendar likes a schedule! I'm not one to try and "fit things in" if I have somewhere to be . . . or even if I don't!!
• My entire day is mapped out from the time I wake up until bedtime.
• I don't usually map this out on paper (takes too much time so it is in my head) but I actually remember making a schedule for my summer days when I was in the 5th grade . . .yes, this has been "me" for quite some time.
• One of my biggest life annoyances is if something messes with my schedule (which is everyday all day long).
• Sometimes I have to plan to be spontaneous . . . helps me cope with my plans being disrupted! My "plans" don't always include something tangible such as a trip or place to be but in my mind that doesn't make them any less important!
• I think of money has something that provides security. I measure success and progress by growing savings account numbers!
• Journeyers tend to view money as only worth the pleasure it provides and this is very difficult for me to grasp!
• I like to work hard first (get everything done!) and then play."
• I have to be careful of this because I often run out of "play" time.
• I am destination focused on trips/vacation!!
• This means I want to get there without ANY delays, dillydallying, stops, or side excursions. These things feel like extreme wastes of time to me!

Recognizing traits relating to this personality type that I can work on:

• I know that I need to not be irritated by changing of "plans".
• I need to develop my sense of comfort when "going with the flow". 
• I need to work on enjoying "surprises". 
• I need to focus on the here and know and not worry about the distant future. I need to focus on "enjoying" and sitting back instead of always accomplishing, succeeding, planning, doing.

Recognizing traits relating to this personality type can help when relating in marriage:

• Thankfully my husband and I aren't complete opposites on this point (cause we've got other ones to work on understanding each other through) but we have struggled some with changing and making plans together. He tends to bring something up by being very excited about it "let's do this" which irritates me since my plans are being changed. He's learned to say "Consider this for a moment . . . ". It doesn't take me long to be able to think through some plan changes and agree to a better or different plan and having the space to think about that is so helpful. That's why I love that phrase!

These traits aren't bad! I actually enjoy them in myself (ha ha)! They've made me more self-disciplined, self-aware, prompt, hard-working, etc! I just need to be sure that I'm not stuck in the "my way or the highway" approach to life, as I can so often be.

If you've made it this far in reading . . . bless you! I'd really love to hear from anyone who knows what their personality trait is (from the test or you just know) and any self discoveries you may have!!