Musophobia

I cannot deny that I have a problem. I have a very irrational fear of mice. A true phobia. Musophobia if you want to get technical. I understand that it is silly. Mice are so very tiny and I don't know anyone who has suffered from having their toes chewed off by mice in the middle of the night. But if I see a mouse, a shadow,or the occasional crumpled up grey sock, all rationale goes out the door. I am perched on the highest bit of furniture I can find. I am sweating, my extremities are tingling, and I am shaking. This is not an exaggeration. I don't like it but it seems to get worse with age, the more I think about dirty mice being in my kitchen, the more I shiver. I will tell you my latest musophobia adventure.

About a week ago. I made caramel rolls (my favorite!) for a snack and saved the rest for our breakfast. I left them on the counter with a dish towel draped over the pan. The next morning I went to get a caramel roll and there was a little hole in my dish towel. I thought at first that I must have burnt a hole in it, because it's not uncommon for me to burn things in the kitchen (don't worry, only once has there been true flames). I lifted the towel and one roll looks like a child had eaten just the gooey caramel top. Then I noticed little mouse droppings on my towel and ran. Poor Kyle was trying to sleep in, but I went in and told him all about it and finally, to shut me up, he went to check the kitchen while I stayed feet off the ground on the living room couch. We went and bought mouse traps that day.

A few days later, nothing had happened, except for a few noises I heard coming from the kitchen at night. I wasn't about to investigate. I just ate meals out until I was sure of the situation. Finally Kyle and I were both home at the same time so I stood on a kitchen chair, peeking from the dining room, supervising while Kyle checked every cabinet, nook, and cranny for evidence. He didn't find any, but since I didn't think he was looking hard enough I cautiously looked and found droppings on my countertop and under the sink. This is really gross, but I was too scared to clean it until I knew the mouse was gone.

I only went to the kitchen if I had a 2 dog escort, and it was a quick in and out. I was in STL this weekend and I got a text from Kyle that said "Good news is, we caught the mouse. Bad news is, there is no mouse or trap. I think Archer ate it."  Apparently there was a mini murder scene of peanut butter and blood on the counter, with no evidence of the weapon. I told Kyle to make sure it was clean before I got home because I didn't want any part of that. Archer was acting fine, so we thought the trap must have fallen behind the stove in the commotion and maybe he only ate the mouse. I also thought maybe Archer was the one we caught and it was his blood from getting snapped for attempting to get the peanut butter.

I got home from our trip and fed the dogs their supper. I hopped in my pajamas and get ready for bed. I noticed the pile of dirty clothes in the bathroom were strung around but I thought maybe in my hurry to get packed I was throwing things around. (I am also faulted with being messy) I kicked the clothes back in a pile and finished my nightly routine. As I am sitting there, I glance over and see the mouse trap sitting upside down, right there in the pile of clothes I kicked! Thinking it was just part of the trap that Archer must have chewed on, I looked and then I realized there was a tail....not good. Luckily I had just flushed. I jumped up and ran lightening speed to my bedroom and jumped on the bed doing a heebee jeebee dance. I guess the dogs thought my yelling was a game, Lola jumped right up behind me and Archer jumped after her. Which is also funny because neither of them jump on the bed. We have to boost them up if we ever let them up. Thank goodness I had just peed or else this would have been worse.  I texted Kyle, who is at work. I told him to hurry straight home because I found the mouse and trap and I was locked in the bedroom with the dogs. Then I called my brother for support. That was twenty minutes ago.

I am still locked in my bedroom until Kyle gets off. I guess now that the mouse is caught I can be brave enough to clean the kitchen without worrying about a mouse jumping out at me. Oh shoot, I just remembered I left my night guard in the bathroom and all this anxiety is going to give me jaw pain for sure!


*Phew! Coast is clear. Kyle just got home. But...all this time the mouse was still alive in the trap. It could have wiggled free and got me. Probably having nightmares tonight. Glad that is over!

The Faded Flannel Jacket

Kyle has an old quilted flannel jacket that he loves. It's not exactly runway material. It's faded, worn thin, and even has a hole in it. But he absolutely loves that thing. He insists on wearing it anytime it's even remotely chilly and would wear it to any given date night if I would let him. He defends the jacket, stating all of it's great qualities. "This is usually how his defense goes. "It is the perfect thickness for warmth, it is comfortable, and looks great on me!"  And how can I argue?

After hanging out with my sweet friends this week, I caught a glimpse of Kyle's old ratty jacket hanging in the closet. I couldn't help but smile. My friends and I are not as young as we once were. We won't be walking on the runway anytime soon. Sometimes we are worn thin and our life is full of holes.  But I would take them anywhere, even in our yoga pants and messy ponytails we are beautiful. There is something wonderful, familiar, and comfortable about a true, intimate friendship. It's my favorite. 

“We'll be Friends Forever, won't we, Pooh?' asked Piglet.
Even longer,' Pooh answered.” 
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

Baby Campbell: Due Jan 2014

The secret is now out and about. 

We are having a baby!!!

And couldn't be more excited! We have known since the last week in May. I haven't been able to blog since then because I've had our secret baby on my mind.  Our poor parents have been dying to tell people since Father's Day. On behalf of our families, sorry to those of you who have asked us about Kyle and I having children. We lied. Big thanks to you guys for protecting me and our little growing gift. 

Keeping in line with our backyard photo shoots we decided to incorporate our good news into our summer shoot. Keep in mind, we are not professionals, we simply do this because it's fun and we want to see how our backyard changes through the seasons, so don't get all critical on our imperfect photos. 

Sorry, no doggie pictures this time. We will have to take some of them later. 

For those of you interested, I will continue to post about our journey (along with non-baby things) on this blog and then link my blog to facebook and twitter @jillcampbell85 If you are looking for baby bump pictures, I will not be posting weekly bump pictures. But I will try to do updates on my blog often so my far away friends and family get to experience this exciting walk with us too. 

Check out my blog post "Oceans Prayer" to get the full story on how God answered our prayers and set us on this path to a growing family. 
   http://jillcampbell85.blogspot.com/2013/07/oceans-prayer.html

Oceans Prayer

This is the story of how God answered our prayers and has given us a child.


Many of you already know that Kyle and I have had a plan to adopt. That was originally my plan because I have felt the call to be an adoptive mom since I was young. I have never had the desire to have my own biological children. To some, that sounds foreign. But I felt so strongly about it that I had actually in the back of my mind felt that maybe it was God preparing me for infertility even though I am perfectly healthy. For Kyle, adoption had not really crossed his mind until we started dating. Without him knowing, I prayed for years for Kyle's heart to be open to adopting and slowly it was. We had decided that we would blend our family with both biological and adopted children. We were to the point a few months ago where we were deciding which way to grow our family first. We had talked about it and then dropped it for a while so that we each had time to get our own thoughts and answers on it.
One Sunday, one of our awesome worship leaders at our church, introduced a new song called "Oceans (Where My Feet May Fail)" by Hillsong United. The song is a powerful prayer with the declaration of trusting God without borders and going where your feet may fail you, knowing that God will never fail you. As I heard that song, I begin to pray desperately that God give us a child, in His time, in His way. I gave up my fearful hesitations about carrying my own children and begged with God to give us the child he has created for us, no matter which way the child came to us. That whole week I prayed and listened to this song, asking God for His path. I didn't tell Kyle about my pleading prayers, but we decided soon after that to try to start our family biologically and see where that took us. About 5 weeks after that, on a Friday, we found out we were expecting. That Sunday, we sang "Oceans" again and I found a resounding peace and joy, knowing that God had answered my prayers in a very obvious way. It's as if God was waiting for us to give up our plans and just say I'm trusting in You.
 Even though sometimes I am overwhelmed by the whole situation, I know that this is clearly God's path for us, and I am safe in his arms.

Several people have asked us. And yes, we still plan to adopt. We both want a big family and will look to God to guide us until every child He has planned for us to love and protect comes into our home.

If you are looking for a church in Evansville, we would love to have you at ours. Check out our website at     www.onelifechurch.org