Humble Beginnings

January's Jacket

2012-02-08T14:00:00.003-06:00

I've accomplished my first challenge for 12 in 2012! My plan was/still is to make one garment for my every day wardrobe each month. Each has to be wearable, correctly fitted, and NOT made out of quilter's cotton. It's a bit intimidating... but totally worth doing. I'm noticing that each of my projects requires developing different sewing skills as I go along.

This is so not the best picture of me (my photographer had to get to work), but alas: January's Jacket!

I made it out of a soft tweed I found at Joann's over a year ago that has been sitting around waiting for inspiration. You can't see in this photograph, but there is a thin strand of silver metallic thread in the weave as well. This jacket really turned out well (the picture lies). I wore it to a meeting this morning for the first time - yes, I'm running a bit behind. I'm thinking it will be even better over dark trouser cut jeans (which I don't currently own).

Skills learned/practiced: Cutting into non-cotton fabric! I also had to pay much more attention to grainlines than I usually do since this fabric would show a crooked cut very badly. Overall I'm pleased and ready to tackle my next challenge: a knit dress!

This is from Simplicity 2652 if anyone wanted to know.

Not-Beef Ground Beef

2012-02-07T17:02:00.003-06:00

We're on a health-kick here, and I think we might stay this way... I promise I haven't gone nuts!

For the past couple years, Shaune and I have skipped meat for a week or so at a time, in the interest of trying out new veggie and grain based recipes. It's never lasted more than a week. So far in 2012 though, we're on our 4th week of "part time vegetarianism." We're still eating meat on the weekends. But all week, it's a medley of veggie goodness.

One of the things we're working on adding is more whole grains. A personal favorite is called quiona. It's an ancient grain, a super food, one of the most complete proteins available in a plant, and downright tasty when cooked right (It's also terrible when cooked wrong but that's a different story). Quinoa is awful healthy, too. It has an interesting chewy texture that reminds me a lot of ground beef. So lately, we've been subbing it in to our favorite ground beef recipes.

Quinoa Meat Substitute:

Saute one diced red onion in a pat of butter. While that cooks, RINSE THE QUINOA (about 1 cup)! This is critical because it is coated with something called saponin, which tastes yucky. Once rinsed, add it to the onions, then top off with water (2 cups ish, just like rice). Bring to a boil, then simmer covered for about 15 minutes. You'll see the little white tails starting to separate. Sidenote: most packages say to cook for 30min. This is way too long and will result in mush rather than bliss. You'll know it's done by tasting a few grains - they should "pop" in your mouth. Underdone quinoa has a firm center.

Although it has an excellent taste and texture as is, we like to build from there - black beans are our favorite stir-in. I make up a batch of beans in the crock pot once a week and toss it into meals as I go so I can't tell you how many that is. Probably about a can's worth if you use them (rather than cooking from dry). We mostly use it in Mexican recipes. Just stir in a little taco seasoning and some water to the mixture. Not too much water! Simmer it together just for a couple minutes but not so long the quinoa gets mushy. I use that on nachos, in tacos, and tonight as filling for enchiladas. It's Shaune's favorite meal!

I'd love to hear from you! What fun grains and veggies have you discovered lately?

World Nutella Day

2012-02-04T22:50:00.002-06:00

Who knew there was such a fantastic celebration?!

For those of you who don't know, Nutella is a European concoction of bliss. Hazelnut butter + chocolate blended together to create a spread of epic deliciousness. When I was in France in middle school, we would enjoy Nutella slathered on slices of crusty bread with our tea. There was a layer of nutella in Shaune's and my wedding cake. It's my guilty pleasure by spoon in the dark of the kitchen when insomnia hits.

Being the Nutella junky that I am, when I saw this holiday (on Pinterest, the eater of all free time) last week I had to add it to my calendar. As a happy bonus, it lands tomorrow, 2/5, which for sports nuts out there is also known as Super Bowl Sunday - or, the only football game I'm likely to watch in a calendar year. Since we're attending a party, my contribution is a loaf of that lovely bread you see above. No, that isn't my loaf. Mine clung to the pan and kind of looks funny. Definately not picture-worthy. But the crumbs are delicious! You can find the recipe (and orginal pictures for credit sake) here. And, if you're a nerd and want in on the fun, here's their facebook page.

Whether you're a nutella fan or not, or a football fan or not, I pray your weekend is full of happy goodness in whatever form you find it in :) Many blessings!

My Blessing

2012-02-02T18:44:00.004-06:00

I want to take a minute to shamelessly brag on my husband. He's a keeper :) And, as of today, he's THIRTY! Isn't that officially "over-the-hill"? Of course, the definition of that keeps changing the closer I get to it... when I was little the 16 year olds seemed SOOO old. Then 20... then 30... now I'm looking at my parents and going, "50 certainly doesn't seem old!" It's all a matter of perspective. But I digress. Shaune's THIRTY!

I can't imagine my life without this man. He is such a blessing to me.

He makes me laugh...

He has a heart for missions (and even took me to Liberia!)

He's the best Daddy I could hope to parent with...

Even to the point of cuddling sick babies!

Happy Birthday, Love! You're such a blessing to me, and I wouldn't have our life any other way. (but yes, you are still old haha!)

Life

2012-01-27T13:31:00.003-06:00

Sometimes life gets in the way. Lately I've been too busy living life to write about it. This is a crazy season for us.

Right before Christmas, Shaune got a call from a recruiter for a small tech company out of Chicago. He didn't think it was anything serious but he entertained their calls and enjoyed the conversation with them. And then they made an offer. So alas, last Friday was his last day as a civil employee of the State of Illinois (thank goodness!) and Monday he began as a contract employee with the technology company, working a contract here in Springfield. I'm excited for him. I'm also excited that I don't have to move. I'm finally almost unpacked from last time!

I'm back in the swing of leading Bible study. I missed it over the holiday break. I love having a small group of dear friends to study the Word with together. BSF mornings are my favorite.

Grace can stand. She's trying to walk. I'm afraid... she isn't even 9 months old yet. God bless the inventor of the pack-and-play because otherwise I'd lose her. In fact, I actually did the other day (but only for a minute!). I'd left her happily unfolding newly folded clothes while I used the restroom - usually clean clothes can entertain her for ever (or at least long enough) but this time they didn't catch her attention. She crawled away... quietly... crawled under our bed... quietly... and proceeded to get stuck. I emphasize quiet because she NEVER is. After a brief moment of panic I stepped in spilled water she'd knocked from the bedside table and saw her wedged under the bed, at which point she burst out giggling. She's only 8 months old. I'm in for it!

If that weren't enough, I've been spending a lot of time lately preparing to launch my business. After ages of thought I'm going to attempt to break into the cloth diaper market. I've got a great idea and Shaune's designed a cute logo. It'll be the chance to apply what I learned during my brief stint at busines school. But more on that later.

Of course, this is on top of all the normal things. Cooking every day, sewing, cleaning, planning our garden (it's going to be great this year!), cleaning again, unsticking cherios from the floor, trying to sleep here and there... I love being busy but some days I wonder if we've jumped into too much. I miss writing, though. I have tons of thoughts to get out and just no time to do it. I suppose that's just the nature of the season, though. Soon, friends! Know I'm still reading, even when writing is too hard to fit in.

12 in 2012

2012-01-13T08:48:00.004-06:00

Last year I sewed a lot... but it was all for other people. Mostly Gracie :) And, why not?! She's little and cute... nothing had to be perfect... and if it didn't work, I hadn't invested too much time or money into anything because everything was little. She got dresses, a coat, cloth diapers; more things than she actually needed. I got a little carried away.

But for me? I never got around to sewing (except for a pair of PJ pants, but those hardly count).

So this year, I'm setting a challenge: I will sew 12 garments to cycle into my every day wardrobe during the year 2012. That is about one per month. I've got a couple bigger projects planned that may take longer than a month, so there will be some short ones mixed in, too. I'm excited by this challenge - I'm tired of my two pairs of ill-fitting "mom jeans" and a miscellaneous blend of other garments that don't fit well OR coordinate with anything else. In addition to my sewing projects, I'll be throwing out a lot of old things and making a couple of carefully chosen purchases so that hopefully by this time next year, dressing is both more fun and easier, with better results.

And, for almost the first time, I'm actually going to sew clothes out of the material they're supposed to be made from instead of quilter's cotton. Sigh. No wonder I don't like wearing the things I've made!

Here's my plan getting started:

January: Black and white blazer from Simplicity 2652

February: Black knit wrap dress (From a pattern I used a few years ago)

March: Tunic blouse (Simplicity 2147) and pencil skirt

April: 1940s swing dress from Sense and Sensibility (I'm so excited to do this one!)

And that's all I've got so far. Come summer I want to make some light weight every day dresses with full skirts so I can still get down on the floor with Grace. I like skirts and dresses, even rolling around on the floor: they tend to stay in place better than jeans, especially when I stand up again. I'm more comfy :)

I want to invite you to challenge yourself, too! What will you be sewing in 2012? I'd love to hear your plans for the year!

Black Bean Soup

2012-01-12T20:14:00.003-06:00

Per request of one of my friends, I wanted to pass on my black bean soup recipe. This is our favorite winter-warm-up soup :) It fills the belly and is very “clean” according to my husband – it is his official anti-junk food meal, often requested after we’ve been away from home and eating out. Like all good soups, the ingredient quantities are very approximate and turn out differently every time, but it makes a consistently good dinner! It's cheap, too, and you can't beat that!

Black Bean Soup
About 1lb dried black beans, soaked and cooked or 3 cans black beans
2 onions, finely chopped
Olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1 can tomato/pepper blend (ie Ro-tel)
4c chicken broth, veggie broth, or bean broth from cooking the beans
4c water
2c corn
Cumin
Black Pepper
Salt
Cayenne Pepper
Red Pepper Flakes

Cook beans if using dried. If using bean broth, reserve 4c. Set aside.
Sweat onions in a generous drizzle of olive oil until soft. Mince or slice garlic and add to onions; cook until they just begin to take on color. Add broth, water, tomato blend, and cooked beans; bring to simmer.
Spice to taste:

Be careful with the salt, especially if you use packaged broth or bullion cubes

A couple cracks of black pepper go a long way

Be generous with the cumin – this is where most of the flavor comes from

Feel free to leave out the red pepper flakes, they’re spicy!

Cayenne pepper adds a great flavor, but it doesn’t take much. This is an undertone in the flavor.

Give everything at least 20min on the simmer to help the flavors blend together. Add corn and warm just before serving.
When we make this at home, we add in a little bit of whatever leftover cooked meat is around – usually shredded chicken – but its awesome vegetarian as well. Also, try blending some or all of the soup; it is nice pureed too. Serve with corn bread or cornmeal dumplings:

Cornmeal Dumplings
½ c all purpose flour
½ c cornmeal
½ c shredded cheddar cheese
1tsp baking powder
1 egg
2tbsp oil
2tbsp milk

Stir dry ingredients well. Combine wet ingredients then add to the dry. Stir to combine. The dough will be somewhat dry. Drop by heaping tablespoon (I use a melon baller) into simmering soup. Cover pot and cook for 10-12min.

A Special Gift

2012-01-06T14:02:00.002-06:00

Back when my now-husband and I were first planning our wedding, my mom was planning a quilt.

She took our favorite colors... a lovely pattern... beautiful fabrics... hours of work...

She enlisted the hand-quilters group from her church to do the quilting (and it is fantastic I must say!)...

And like all the best quilts, marked the occasion by embroidering our wedding date on a perfect label for the back. We were blessed to receive the finished quilt for Christmas this year. I'm honored to use it and remember the many hands who prayed for our marriage while they were working on it. Thank you!

Article: Blessed are the Un-Cool

2012-01-04T13:03:00.003-06:00

I stumbled across this article today and it made me think. I just had to pass it along:

People sometimes assume that because I’m a progressive 30-year-old who enjoys Mumford and Sons and has no children, I must want a super-hip church—you know, the kind that’s called “Thrive” or “Be” and which boasts “an awesome worship experience,” a fair-trade coffee bar, its own iPhone app, and a pastor who looks like a Jonas Brother.
While none of these features are inherently wrong, (and can of course be used by good people to do good things), these days I find myself longing for a church with a cool factor of about 0. [Read the rest at Blessed are the Un-Cool]

We used to attend a "cool" church - big stage, big lights, big band. But there was also a big hole where Christ should be. It got to the point on our very last service there that the pastor never even touched a Bible, which is when we decided to cut ties and worship elsewhere. Now we're at a very "uncool" church, complete with the amateur music the article's autor desires.

Where do you attend? Would it be considered "cool"? I'd love some dialogue on this!

Grace's Snowflake Christmas Dress

2012-01-03T10:08:00.004-06:00

I have waited what seems like forever to make a baby Christmas dress. Here's to a life-goal being completed!
I dreamed of a gown with so much fluff my sweet girl would be hard to hold. I wanted something that was a lovely blend of classic and modern; suitable for Christmas but beyond that into the rest of the winter - who wants to spend hours on a dress that will only be worn once?

I found Simplicity 2392, a reprint from the 1950s. So cute! And it was exactly what I was looking for :) I chose black satin for the top. The skirt is one layer of cream satin and one layer of sheer organza printed with glitter snowflakes. Can you see them?

Although I followed the back of the envelope in regards to sizing, the dress is huge (as you can probably tell). The only alteration I made was to lengthen the sleeves to be long - it is winter after all! As big as it is, I have high hopes this will fit NEXT Christmas as well. I know I can't put her in it on a regular Sunday because she'll destroy it in the nursery. Again, maybe when she's walking next year it will be more practical.

But practical or not, I most certainly had fun making it!

Christmas Blessings

2011-12-30T07:47:00.004-06:00

We had a wonderful first Christmas with Gracie. It's so completely different to have a small person in your house! This was our fourth Christmas married, and I must say... the past couple years have really lost their sparkle. It's hard to get excited when it is just two adults buying each other "needs" since neither of us can think of any "toys" we actually want. Boring. And last year we were in the middle of our church transition, which added challenges in experiencing the spiritual side.

But then, Grace...

The fun started early. She affects every one of our decisions: Christmas cards instead of breakable ornaments, the hight of said cards on the tree, the location of said tree... She spent weeks petting that low branch and giggling. I guess fake pastic feels nice? (and yes, I did get a tree skirt made before the "big day.")

Our neighborhood has a fun tradition on Christmas Eve - the luminaria walk. Every house in the neighborhood - a 4 block by 6 block rectangle - is invited to place out luminaria at dusk on Christmas Eve. They line the sidewalk from about 4:30 until they burn out (most of ours were still going when we went to bed at 10). We bundled Grace up nice and warm and spent the evening wandering the streets while the nearby churches rang their bells and the Rees Carillion played out carols. This is the first year we participated, although we did go walking last year. I plan on this special time becoming a family tradition as long as we live here.

We enjoyed a modest but fun gift time before heading to church. And of course, I forgot to get a photograph of the super-exciting gown I made for Gracie. I'll dress her up again in the next day or two for pictures - once she's gotten over her tummy bug. I think we should have church on Christmas morning every year, not just the years it lands on Sunday. I can't think of anything more appropriate!

And thanks to Grace inspiring excitement in the season, I was even able to pull of a long-hoped-for surprise gift for Shaune. My husband is an excellent pianist and it has been a personal tragedy that he has not had access to a piano for years. Although a "real" piano is outside of our means right now, both by space and by cost, I succeeded in finding a sweet deal on a good quality keyboard. I even hid it and got it set up for Christmas without his suspecting a thing! It is such a blessing to have music (and Gracie's interpretation: slamming) spreading through our house at last.

Having a baby changes so much. There's many things I've lost - mainly, the ability to sleep through the night :D. But the things I've gained so outweigh the losses. Like the joy in remembering that long-ago happening where a young girl became a mom for the first time to the Son of God. I'm one step closer to understanding. Merry Christmas!

Family Photos!

2011-12-27T13:19:00.002-06:00

I'm so excited to share these with you. Earlier in the month, we went to visit our friends up north - bloggers Jena of Organized Everyday and her daughter Joanna of Jo-with-it's Portfolio (and the rest of their family, of course :) ) Joanna is planning to start college next year to learn photography and volunteered to do photographs of us. They turned out delightful! I'd love to share (Click on the picture to go see!):

http://jowithitsportfolio.blogspot.com/2011/12/preston-family.html

The Unity of Believers

2011-12-08T19:19:00.001-06:00

I’ve been having a lot of long, deep talks with Christian friends lately. Time after time, I hear from people about divisiveness in the church. You know… those big issues that people can just get SO angry about. I’m sure you can think of some, but here’s a sample of what I’ve heard lately: stay-at-home vs working mom; breastfeeding vs formula; the definition of modesty; how we’re to respond to social activism causes; birth control; Santa Claus. The role of women in the church. The list goes on… and on… and on. People get SO angry about what are essentially little things. They aren’t salvation issues.

I’m sharing this with you in the hopes of pushing my friends to seek unity. There are some problems that are salvation issues, greatly worth fighting for. Others are more about sanctification – becoming more Christlike while we are still walking this earth. I believe in fighting for truth in salvation doctrine, while being much more forgiving in the issues of sanctification. Basically, it’s about being true to the Bible, while walking in grace. Need examples?

Salvation issue: Jesus tells us in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Anyone who speaks otherwise is telling a lie. It’s black and white, and very much worth standing up for the truth.

Sanctification issue: Modesty. Yes, it’s commanded in Scipture: “I want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety…” (1 Timothy 2:9). But Scripture doesn’t define modesty as only ankle length skirts… or knee length… or mid-back length hair… or never cut hair… or a specific amount of ease across the chest. Look all day, but I’ll tell you, it isn’t there. This is a gray area. It’s an opportunity to demonstrate grace to our sisters, encouraging and teaching them, but not something to beat over the head about. Where there is no clear Biblical teaching, we must rely on the Holy Spirit to guide. When in doubt, be truthful but loving.

Salvation issue: Christ is the sole sufficient sacrifice for sin; nothing else will do. “For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works” (Ephesians 2:8-9). Also, “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of truth, no sacrifice for sins is left” (Hebrews 10:26). Once again, very clear truth that we must defend.

Sanctification issue: Birth control. There’s so many issues rolled up into this that I truly believe there is no one right answer for each family. First we have the “control” issue – who should control births, God or us? Or is there ever a time when a particular family is called by God to either give birth or prevent it? There are some clear distinctions here (specifically, not murdering an unborn child), but also a ton of gray. And this whole issue rolls right into my belief in seasons of life and faith (which I’m writing a post about right now!). But my current point is this: where there is no clear teaching, there must be room for grace.

I guess this is just a sweet holiday reminder, as much to myself as to anyone else. Where the Bible draws a firm line we are to “stand firm and let nothing move you” (1 Corinthians 15:58). Where there is gray, let us “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).

May God bless you and all your interactions with believers this season!

Fashion Statement

2011-12-01T16:32:00.004-06:00

Let's do a little math on inequalities.

Whatever is clean + Whatever fits + Whatever is warm + Whatever is on the top of the pile DOES NOT EQUAL Whatever matches.

Sigh. I try... really. But you'd never know by 5pm.

Your baby eats WHAT?

2011-11-30T10:00:00.001-06:00

No offense to the fine baby food companies (ahem), but baby food is gross. Seriously yucky stuff. So I tried to do solids the "right" way... pureeing my own veggies, shoveling it in her mouth three times a day, trying to distract her enough to open her mouth... but it took WAY too long, was way too messy, and quite frankly, was not a pleasant experience for anyone. Totally frustrating.

Beef stew and blueberries - definately a favorite!

That's when I gave up. I read a book called "Baby Led Weaning" by Gill Rapely. Full disclosure: this not a scientific book. The only scientific study referenced in it was done in the early part of the century. It's full of first-person testimonials, which are interesting but definately not scientific. That being said, I found a lot of logic and rational thought in it. Primarily, do you really think that moms through the ages spent hours pureeing food for their babies? Or wasting so much time trying to spoon-feed little ones who clearly don't desire to be spoon-fed? I doubt it. I don't buy everything in the book, but the basic concept seems sound. So, last week (just in time for Thanksgiving), we switched our approach: Gracie eats what we eat.

Chicken noodle soup

She's actually doing surprisingly well with it. I know she's eating (we cloth diaper... use your imagination), and actually eating a lot more than I thought she would. She's tried pretty much everything I've put in front of her. Sure, it's messy... but you should have seen what we were dealing with when spoon-feeding. Believe it or not, this is cleaner. And she's SOOO happy! We all sit down for our meals together, with Gracie getting a small portion of whatever the meal is. Sometimes I'll cook her something a tiny bit different: last night we had fish but I didn't season her piece, and for lunch today I didn't put sauce on her pasta. But that's minor in the grand scheme of things. We're teaching her not only what food is, but also what family mealtime is. She's a part of our family, and family mealtime is something we very much believe in.

Some kind of sherbert, and yes it's a spoon, but her face is priceless!
This kid makes the best faces.

Has anyone else done this, or something similar? I have a couple friends here that have done solids basically this way. It just seems so natural. Thoughts?

Action Shots: Grace's Coat

2011-11-29T13:38:00.003-06:00

Because baby clothes are way cuter on the baby instead of the table :D

It's almost a pefect fit. Just a little loose, so it should fit throughout the cold season. This is a toddler size 1/2. LOL, I didn't even know they made a size 1/2!

You can see how the fullness hits just above her bum, and it only buttons to her waist. As wiggly as she is nowadays, this keeps everything nicely out of the way. And as Gillian suggested, I did skip the bow - there's enough going against me already trying to get this kid in a carseat. I don't need anything extra!

Fixing the Baby-Blanket-Bundle Problem [Gracie's New Coat]

2011-11-23T08:50:00.003-06:00

Did you notice that it's finally November? Meaning it's finally cold, wet, and all around unpleasant outside here in the midwest? Oh yes. I envy the moms of tiny babies this time of year... throw a blanket or one of those special covers over a carseat and you're good to go. I get a little green-eyed at moms of toddlers and older, too... they can find coats, and their kids will maybe possibly be a little helpful getting the coat on. Not so here...

Our regular solution: Bundle and run.

Well, Miss Wiggles hasn't been tolerating being wrapped up in a blanket lately. She wants her hands free to touch and wave at absolutely everything. Since coats for babies are WAY too expensive for the amount of wear you get out of them (even the ones at Walmart were $45!), I graciously accepted a hand-me-down... in size 2T.

Her hands don't even come to the elbows. Not going to work (and her pants are long enough, Shaune just struggles holding her and keeping her clothes in place).

What a blessing grand-opening sales at Joann's are! Remember how I said I went a little crazy? I bought fabric, patterns, notions, and everything for (at last count) 10 different projects. The first, out of necessity, was a coat that FITS for Grace. I think it turned out darling!

I was trying to model this darling coat I found at BabyGap - cute, but more than I wanted to pay. So with some fleece and a basic coat pattern to work from, I got sketching and sewing. One night's worth of work, a little bit of learning when I realized my machine's buttonholess won't do fleece (I did my first by hand!), and some lovely PBS history house episodes on Youtube later, my daughter will no longer freeze. Just in time for relatives over the holiday :) Grand total: $6, all new materials.

The original has a bow on the back, but I haven't decided yet if I should do one. Thoughts?

May your Thanksgiving be warm and cheery!

Happy Turkey Day!

2011-11-21T20:57:00.004-06:00

No, not Thanksgiving. That's in a few days. Today was Turkey Day! Can you find the turkeys?

I have a weakness for rice krispy treat concoctions. My best was the Krispy Kristmas Train of 2009 (you can see it in a photo halfway down the page here), but these are a pretty darling second place. The balls of rice krispy treat are dipped in chocolate then decorated with candy corn and sprinkles. I saw an ad in a magazine, of all places, and just couldn't resist!

Three of the not-rejects

All packed up for Grandma's house!

Some were so bad. You have no idea how hard working with molten marshmallow-cereal lava is, then trying to coax candy to adhere to it once it firms up harder than a rock (much faster than I was prepared for). But some turned out darling!

I hope your holiday preparations are giddy, cheerful, and chocolate covered as well! Blessings!

A Long-Awaited Adventure!

2011-11-11T15:36:00.002-06:00

Oh Boy! At long last, a Joann's worth shopping at has opened in my neighborhood. Well, it's about 5 miles away, right next to where Shaune works and I attend Bible study. Danger zone, in other words.
Today was tehir grand opening. You can BET I was there, shopping list in tow! I'm so excited. I finally got my sewing machine fixed last weekend (I broke it over a year ago when I was sewing too fast on a civil war petticoat) and have been working on organizing my fabric and pattern stash. I've been collecting lists of projects that I want/need to accomplish between now and Christmas. I scoured the add and selected coupons, then braved the excitement.
It was worse than "Black Friday." LOL.
Have you ever seen several hundred women... crafters... who have been deprived of a decent fabric store for quite a while? Our joann's stopped taking shipments in late August; Hobby Lobby and Hancock are just so junky (these ones at least). Mass pandemonium ensued when we ladies were finally able to get our fix.
I was there for an hour and a half. Just guess how many people got fabric cut during that time (you have to take a ticket, then a screen shows what number is currently being served). You'll never guess. 162! 162 women gathered around the poor cutters like a cage in the zoo. 162 carts stacked high with bolts of fabric. 162 husbands somewhere wringing their hands at the anticipated credit card bill!
But alas, I patiently waited my turn... got my 6 cuts of fabric and more patterns than I'm going to admit to you (they were only $1 each)... gathered MY tired husband (who insisted on coming along, but later regretted it)... and cleared out, having quite satisfied my fabric addiction for a long time... or until my Mom comes up to do it again on Sunday!

Happy Weekend!

Gracie's ZigZag Jumper

2011-11-07T18:29:00.003-06:00

Did I mention I was having fun knitting? LOL. This is my latest creation for Miss Grace. I've been loving her in jumpers lately because I have yet to find pants that actually look good over cloth diapers. Even when she's wearing pants I tend to slip a dress over it to cover the fluff. I'm already concerned about what I might do when we have a boy...

This fun little number was all from scrap yarn I'd bought back when I was knitting teddy bears. Both yarns are acrylic, which I don't use much anymore, but hey... at least this can go in the wash unlike my more recent woolie projects. The pink has a silver strand wrapped around it which didn't photograph well but adds a special sparkle up close.

My unwilling model. Yes, those are tears...

I've been loving my new knitting books that Shaune bought for me. This pattern is a slipped-stitch technique, which means I was only working with one yarn at a time. It's a lot less bulky than the fair isle pants I made a couple weeks ago. I had to do a little bit of play to make the bodice work, but I think it turned out nicely.
I'm kind of in love <3 This is a really simple dress; I think I'll probably make bundles more for Grace, and I'm toying with the idea of restarting my Etsy shop. You see, I have a delima - I want to knit, but there's absolutely nothing that I, or anyone in my family, need! I want to pawn off my creations on others, haha!
I hope you're having a blessed Monday! It's cold and dreary here... perfect for curling up and watching Lord of the Rings with Hubby while I knit my next insane project (it's bright... fair warning).

Color Play

2011-10-13T17:20:00.004-05:00

I've entered a brave new world in knitting: playing with color. Is it sad that in the many years I've been knitting, I can honestly say I've NEVER knit with more than one color at a time? The only 2-color project I made I knit in strips then sewed together. Definately time to build on my repitoire. And hey! Now I have a darling little Someone to knit for.

I started simple... on the wool soaker, I just held 2 strands of yarn together, and played with how I held them together. It made a difference (lol, surprise). I swapped yarn halfway down on the skirty.

Then I checked a great book out from the library and got brave... I tried the stranding, or Faire Isle, technique! I'm actually surprised at how well it turned out. I only had to rip out about 3 stitches when I caught myself following the wrong line on the chart. These are wool longies for Gracie's diapering, too.

Now I'm working on bubbles, another technique I've always been too afraid to try. I don't know why... it's actually quite simple when you've got clear directions. This is a cotton washcloth for the kitchen... my go-to project when I'm intimidated by a technique. Washcloths are how I taught myself... well.. pretty much everything. Scarves take too long :D

I don't know what I'm going to knit next, but I do know one thing! It will be colorful!

Humbling my Mother's Heart

2011-09-23T20:59:00.002-05:00

Job 40 :3 Then Job answered the LORD and said,
4 “Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You?
I lay my hand on my mouth.
5 “Once I have spoken, and I will not answer;
Even twice, and I will add nothing more.”

Today has been extremely humbling in my journey as a mother. For the past several days, Gracie's been cranky as can be. I chalked it up to teething; when the teeth didn't appear, I claimed she was tired, since she's been waking up more at night. Then, God forgive me, I credited it to her having a temper and a spirited personality like both her father and me. It wasn't any of those things.

My poor baby was hungry.

I've been seeing it for a few days and stubbornly refusing the truth. You see, through all my doubts and worries, I've been prideful in my heart about breast feeding. I'd never say it out loud, but I'd think in my heart, "Those women who suppliment gave up too easily." Or, "Formula-feeding moms are selfish, not wanting to give of themselves for their babies." And maybe, for some of them that is true. But not all. And maybe, not even most.

God's been gracious enough to chip away at the beam in my eye. One friend told me this morning of her heartbreak when, for some unknown reason, her milk never came in and they couldn't afford the expensive options offered by the lactation consultants. And then, I spent the morning together at the library with a new friend, watching our sweet daughters roll around on the carpet in the board book area. She's used formula pretty much since her baby was born, because she needed gall bladder surgery. It was possible to nurse, but she'd have to forgo pain medications before, during, and after this excruciatingly painful procedure. After a day of trying to "muscle through it" she realized she'd be a much better mother in less pain.

And now, you can add me. I don't know why, but at 4 1/2 months, my milk is drying up. I don't have an explaination or an excuse. But what I do know is that my darling has been suffering from my stubbornness. I gave her her first bottle at 3pm, after which she truly giggled for the first time in her life. At bedtime she received her 2nd, and went to sleep without a single tear for the first time in weeks. I'm heartbroken and happy at the same time: heartbroken for not being "enough" for her; happy because she's at peace.

I guess I would have had to learn this lesson sooner or later - no mother is "enough" for her children. Only God can provide everything even a very small human heart needs. I've got a constant chatter running through my head: "It isn't too late, you can try harder, pray harder, want it more..." But then, whose power am I leaning on? Who am I trying to trust? No matter what I do, I can't fix this myself. And it is more Godly to submit to him.

I'm still nursing. I'm feeding her bottles afterwards, though, and today at both times she took a full 4oz of formula. I hope to keep nursing for a very long time, at least in a small way, but we'll see what God plans. And while I'm definately praying my supply rebounds, doing some small things to encourage that (bring on the oatmeal!), I'm not going to make Grace sacrifice any longer for my prideful needs. That way, I know she'll be fed, and hopefully, someday, I'll be a better mother for her out of all this.

Hungry Baby

2011-09-21T09:00:00.000-05:00

Photobomb! My pretty baby loves eating :)

Silly Gracie, only one spoon fits at a time!

Mmm Peaches!

Love that face. Gracie can't get enough of apples, either. I actually don't know if she's getting anything, but she's enjoying the slobber fest.

Sad baby. Dinner wasn't coming fast enough so she chewed on Daddy's arm instead.

"I can't think of a name awesome enough for this" Banana Cake

2011-09-20T09:00:00.000-05:00

Bananas. Cream cheese. Dark chocolate. Peanuts. Oh yes... words can barely describe how awesoem this cake is. Like many concoctions coming out of my kitchen, this one started with something that needed used about to go bad, in this case a whole mess of bananas (like, 8. I sent Shaune grocery shopping the week before). After baking 2 big loaves of banana bread, I still had bananas to use up and wasn't feeling inspired. I flipped open my trusty Better Homes & Gardens cookbook and ran from there.

The cake is a straight BHG recipe, but I "decorated" it myself.

Banana Layer Cake

2c All-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 c shortening

1 1/2 c sugar

1tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1c mashed bananas (2-3)

1/2 c buttermilk or sour milk (I NEVER have buttermilk... I just sour with some lemon juice)

Stir together dry ingredients. Cream shortening with sugar and vanilla, then add eggs one at a time. Stir together bananas and buttermilk. Alternate adding flour mixture and banana mixture to the shortening mixture beating on low speed after each addition. Pour into 2 prepared 9" cake pans. Bake at 350* for about 30min or until tester comes out clean.

Here's where it turns awesome:

Split one cooled layer (mine had actually been frozen for several days; makes splitting easier). Fill with purchased or prepared cream cheese frosting (I bought it because it was easier). For the top, prepare dark chocolate ganache:

Heat 1c heavy whipping cream to just boiling. Remove from heat.

Put 1 1/2 (ish, I never measure) dark chocolate chips or chunks in a heat-safe bowl. I like my pyrex mixing bowls. You can also use bittersweet, but dark is my favorite :)

Pour cream over chocolate and let set for a while as the chocolate melts.

Ganache will initially be very running, but it will thicken as it cools. Stir occasionally until thick enough to pour without just soaking the cake. Pour over cake up to the edges, allowing some to artistically drip off the sides (lol, just have fun). Honestly, I should have let my ganache set a little longer but hey! We were hungry

After pourin ganache, sprinkle cake top with lightly salted peanuts. Now, the salted bit it important: it adds the PERFECT contrast to the ridiculous amount of sweet going on in the rest of the cake. You need the salted nuts. Just trust me.

You can let this cool a little longer for the ganache to become more shell like, but who has the patience for that? Just be warned... this is rich. I've never had a banana-ier cake, and I think it's because the shortening is essentially flavorless. Butter would add another flavor layer, and I honestly think I like this plain.

BONUS IDEA: One of my layers broke while I removed it from the pan. I crumbled it the rest of the way, then stirred in my left over icing to make a sticky mess. Scoop it out by tablespoon or so and cover with leftover ganache. Instant simple bonbons! I forgot to roll them in peanuts... guess I'll have to make it again!

Never Boring

2011-09-19T08:21:00.004-05:00

Things have been crazy-busy over here. I reach the end of the day and just pass out into bed from sheer exhaustion. And yet, it's been glorious too. God has been so active in our lives lately and I'm in awe of the connections He makes. Like, seriously? I couldn't make this up if I tried:

I am a leader in a large women's Bible study here in town that started for the year on Thursday. Great times, great girls, it was fun. Fast forward to Thursday afternoon. I'm surfing a sewing forum that I tend to lurk on - I think I've posted about 3 times in the past 6 months. Thursday makes post #4 on a conversation about a new line of fabric coming out at Joann's. I was lamenting because ours is in the process of becoming a super center so they aren't getting deliveries until they move. A couple hours later, I get a strange private message: "Do you live in my town, IL?" Hm... I was honestly at a loss because, weird right? I'm very careful on these boards. I don't put up any personal information. My location is set at "Illinois," which is quite a big state (with more than a few Joann's Super Centers). But after talking with my hubby, I decided to pursue the conversation. Turns out this girl is a new mom (her DD is a month younger than Grace) who lives just outside of town and hasn't met any other young moms in the area. She took a chance and messaged me. She wanted to know if I knew of any moms' groups.

Well, yes, I do :) And conveniently, it just got started...

So now I've not only made a new friend, I've met a new sister to study the word with. She'll be joining Bible study this coming Thursday. Our babes are the same age, we had losses at the same time, we both cloth diaper. I'm so excited.

***

So yeah, my life is never boring. Besides strange adventures in internet relationships, my darling is now officially 4 months old! She's rolling both ways, sitting on her own (if I put her there, she can't get there herself yet), and making her way across the floor (but only if no one is watching). She might be a little bit spoiled :)

For those of you who were interested about her weight, she has dropped off her growth curve pretty dramatically. She was at the 97th at 2mo and fell to the 83rd by 4mo. Our doctor isn't too worried but we're watching it. She did suggest we suppliment with either formula or solids, based upon some of the behavior signs I mentioned (Gracie's been quite discontent once we finish nursing, like she's still hungry). Since I have a personal vendetta against formula, solids it is! We started with oatmeal... and I can never make enough. Sweet Babe loves the stuff. It cracks me up to watch her eat. I know some people will disagree, but it's working well for us. And she's back to only waking up once at night, instead of every hour or two! It's a huge blessing.

More coming soon. Thanks friends for sticking around, even though I've been so sporadic in my posting!

What are we coming to?

2011-09-12T16:20:00.002-05:00

10 years ago we united over tragedy. I was only a freshman in high school on 9/11, but I remember how connected everyone was that day. We stared at the television screens in every classroom -- most teachers gave up trying to teach. The screens were on in the cafeteria too. We cared desperately about what was going on in NYC and Washington and Pennsylvania. I remember the last time I saw the senior from my French class, who found out (during class) that her fiance was killed (she dropped out of school immediately after). I remember calling my mom at lunchtime (on my cell phone! I'd just gotten it for the start of school) to find out where my dad and uncle were, both travelling for business on the east coast.
Today, we're divided over idiocy... From Yahoo News, the brilliance that is America:

Even though we live in a supersized world, bigger is not always better. One
devoted White Castle customer is suing the restaurant chain because he can't fit
into the restaurant's booths. Martin Kessman, who weighs 290 pounds, complained
to management for more than two years after repeatedly knocking his knee into
the tables' metal supports. After the 64-year-old New York stockbroker sent a
series of letters of complaint to the chain, he received what he called
condescending responses. White Castle sent him free hamburger coupons and
promised that it would expand its booth sizes. But the booths were never changed
and Kessman is now taking his case to federal court. He is suing for bigger
chairs and unspecified damages because he says the eatery is violating the
Americans with Disabilities Act. (He compares himself to pregnant women and the
handicapped.) The lawsuit, however, has not put an end to Kessman's love of mini
burgers. Now, instead of going to White Castle himself, he sends his wife. (source
here)

I'm flabergasted. Seriously? I'm disgusted. Don't our federal courts have better things to do with their time? And our money?
I could go on a serious rant, but I think I'll restrain myself. But I do have a question to ask: I hear all the time, pray for America. I hear it on the radio, at church, in various groups I'm a part of. But what are we praying for? Is this... this mess... worth saving? <>

My Wiggle Worm

2011-08-30T20:20:00.003-05:00

So I think I mentioned a few times while I was preggo that Gracie's a wiggler. She's feisty, and since birth has only gotten more so. She's rolling over now (but only in her sleep... I got a weird child) and trying DESPERATELY to crawl. In fact, she makes progress when I have her on a blanket over the hard wood floor. Did I mention she's not yet 4 months old? Frightening.
All this wiggling is having an effect, though. It's probably a "first time mom," don't-know-the-ropes yet, access too much information induced panic, but I worry all the same. We have a scale at play group and my sweet babe hasn't gained any weight in August. At all. Granted, she nearly doubled her birth weight in her first three months (7lb9oz up to 14lb14oz), but 4 weeks without a gain at her age is a long time. And she's started making a "Hey, is that all there is?" face after nursing. Sigh. I called her pediatrician and they said to track her weight every week and bring the record in to our 4mo apointment on the 12th. That it's "probably no big deal," but alas... I'm a mom. I worry. After all we went through to get nursing under way, having to suppliment would be a major stab in the heart.
Anyone else's babe hit a plateau and just not gain for a while?

An Organized Life

2011-08-25T19:12:00.009-05:00

My life is chaos. At least my baby's cute.

But no, really. Organization. I'm not, but I really want to be. And now that a little person is desperately trying to get from one side of the rug to the other (praise the LORD she can't quite yet...), I really need to figure this "keeping house" thing out, because honestly I don't have a clue.

My family's style of keeping house was, "What, someone's coming over? Grab the boxes!" at which point we'd begin a frenzy of throwing things away and shoving whatever was left into boxes which were then stacked in the garage to be dealt with "later" (Yeah, still waiting on "later" to come). We'd frequently still be scrambling when the doorbell rang. I knew I didn't want this to continue in my house but it's incredibly hard to learn how to stay neat when you're not sure where to start. My dear hubby has put up with a mess for long enough but now, with Grace DESPERATELY trying to be on the move, I've run out of time for excuses.

Oh no! Company's coming!

At my moms' bible study this summer, a couple girls were raving about The Fly Lady's system of keeping house. It's like a fad. Who doesn't want to be left out of a fad?! LOL. Her big concept is baby steps and starting with your sink, then building from there. My kitchen's been clean for about 2 weeks, and I've made my bed every day this week! That may seem silly to some, but it's a MAJOR accomplishment in this household. And, since about 6 other girls at church are trying to impliment some or all of the ideas from her website, I've got people (people who can stop in and see my house...) I can think out loud with.

My studying isn't quite as interesting as hers...

It seems to be working. My mother-in-law called me last week to see if she could come visit... she was a mile away and on her way anyway. I was able to look around, heave a sigh, and put away the one plate still on the counter. No shame in that! I was ready when she got here (3 minutes later). No boxes involved!

I won't bore you about learning how to clean; this is mostly a "where've you been?" post, plus an excuse to show off cute pictures of Gracie. My house is still messy, but I'm finally at long last moving in the right direction. I'll leave you with one last thought borrowed from The Fly Lady. It's brilliant, and so very motivating to me:

"Housework done incorrectly still blesses your family."

That's right. My mom's cool. And in her free time, she knits me dresses.

Practically Free Diapering

2011-08-13T10:21:00.003-05:00

Have you ever realized at midnight that you forgot to run to the store to buy diapers, or if you cloth diaper, that you forgot to run a load and put your child to bed in the last clean diaper? Or you went out to run errands and miscalculated how many diapers you would need for the day? It's happened. What do you do? Letting Babe sit in yuck is, well, yucky; she can't really go without (ew); buying a package is inconvenient at best, unaffordable at worst... so what do you do?

I actually haven't been in this situation, but a board I'm on is doing a cloth diaper challenge this week specifically for those times when you've got nothing else on hand: The No-Sew T-Shirt Diaper!

That link will take you to a tutorial that shows you how to fold a regular T-shirt into a great cloth diaper. It really does work great -- I've done it a couple times just to see how it worked. I've got a bag of old Ts in my car and another in the basement as part of our emergency kits -- you never know when you'll need them. And if money is an object, but you still need to diaper your little one, you can hit the $5 bag day at your local thrift store and have all the diapers you could need!

Did I mention you can make your child's bum say whatever you want? Oh yes, Gracie loves Jesus... her diaper told me so ;-)

Creation. Literally.

2011-08-05T15:11:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, Shaune, Gracie, and I were travelling away from home over the weekend. As is our custom, we visited a local congregation for worship. This is a congregation we’ve had the pleasure of visiting several times over the years. Although it isn’t a church where we would consider attending full time (if we were local), it has always been pleasant and never theologically questionable.

Until this trip.

I’ve hesitated to write this post, as I don’t want to come across to harshly. We truly love many of the people in the congregation. I do believe the pastor means well, but the particular teaching we heard raised so many red-flags... so many I’ve also heard from other sources, that I feel the need to address it.

The sermon was on taking the Bible literally. The pastor’s claim was that overall, no, we should not – the Bible is a collection of stories and teachings, many of which were for a particular season in history. He specifically pointed to the creation story in Genesis 1. He began his teaching with this (my paraphrase, as I was too in shock to write it precisely): “Now, many of us have issues with certain aspects of the Bible. Look at creation – most of us accept that the Bible can’t be literal here. Scientists have proven evolution.”

Wow. Really?

I’m not a scientist. I don’t read science journals. (However, this used to be an issue of doubt for my husband, so he has spent many hours researching both sides of the evolution-vs-creation debate. I’ve asked him to write a little post summarizing some of his findings – look for that next week ) What I do read, however, is the Bible. And what I’ve discovered is that when the Bible describes creation, it means it literally.

Creation is the starting point of the whole story. Without it, nothing else makes sense. Follow me along this train of thought:
• Without creation, humans evolved from monkeys
• If we evolved from monkeys, there is no Eden, nor is there an Adam or Eve… just a more “human” monkey somewhere along the way
• With no Eden, Adam, or Eve, there is no original perfection, no one to be tempted, no command to be obeyed or disobeyed, and therefore no original sin
• With no original sin, there is no need for a savior
• And if there’s no need for a savior, it’s an easy jump to Christ being nothing more than a good man and a moral teacher
Without Creation, there can be no purpose to the Cross. Are you with me?

Clearly the Gospel writers believed in salvation. They also believe in the original sin of Adam and Christ’s redemptive death. Here’s a sampling:
• “Sovereign Lord, you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them…” (Acts 4:24)
• “For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay.” (Romans 8:20-21)
• “For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” (1 Corinthians 15:21-22)
• “Now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:12)
• The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)

I believe in a literal, final-form creation as prescribed in the Bible. Was it 6 24-hour days? I’m not sure, I wasn’t there (lol), but I do know that when God created, He created species as they are today. Humans were humans from the beginning. Fish were fish, cats were cats. (Variation has clearly occurred over the years, but that’s a different topic for a different day.) I also believe that if you don’t accept the reality of creation, you will forever struggle with the rest of Christianity. We need saved because we aren't what we were created to be. This is a line in the sand… literally.

Mama Gets Busy

2011-07-25T20:47:00.003-05:00

Gracie learned to nap (sort of)! And started going to bed like a sweet baby, at 7pm! Everyone knows what that means... time to sew! And knit! And cook! It's fabulous. The best part is she's happier overall too because she's well rested.

That's my good girl :) Never too early to love books.

So I've been enjoying getting back to a little me-time, which allows me to be creative. I've missed making things. The first thing I made for Gracie was this sweet denim jumper, made from scraps of my absolute favorite skirt. I very loosely based it off a dress we got as a gift, but it's mostly pattern-less. I hate onesies on their own and pants look silly over cloth diapers, so we got a lot of wear out of this... in the 3 weeks it fit. My chunker is already in 9 MONTH CLOTHING! She's 14.5 lb or more by now... at 11 weeks.

Speaking of cloth diapering, the most annoying thing in our first couple weeks was that we only had disposable wipes. I'm not even going to tell you how many went through the wash, and how much of a pain it is to pull disintegrated wipe bits out of velcro. But I don't have to worry about that anymore! Voila, 2-sided flannel wipes. One side has polka dots... the other says "I love Mommy" and "I love Daddy." A much needed reminder when she's screaming through a diaper change! I made 30 for less than $5 AND got to learn my new-to-me serger. Good times.

Number 3 has to be my favorite project so far. I adore this little dress! I made it out of scraps, too, from my second favorite skirt. I wrote about it 2 years ago. Yes... Gracie and I totally matched the first time she wore this to church. I wish I'd gotten a picture, except maybe not: my skirt has been well worn over 2 years, while the scraps were stored and are still bright and crisp. Oh well. I LOVE this pattern (Simplicity 4243), but next time I have to make the neck bigger. Remember that 14.5lb baby? Yeah... she's already outgrown this one, too.

Maybe one of these days she'll slow down enough to wear a special dress more than once! In the meantime, I have a good friend due in about 3 weeks, so all these tinies are taking a vacation to the other side of town. Then back to me, for next time! It's so good to be back to "normal."

Lime Dimes

2011-07-10T21:01:00.003-05:00

I bet you were starting to wonder if I had a chance to be creative now that Gracie’s here. Well… so was I. Honestly, the most creative thought I have some days is, “Wow, let me figure out how the paci ended up THERE!” Wonder no more! Baby Girl took a nap this afternoon so Mommy decided to meet her sweet tooth and citrus obsession, plus a burst of creativity, in one fell swoop. This is a combination of a couple recipes. I mixed the Lemon Crinkle Cookie and Martha Stewart’s Lime Melt-a-ways, with an extra dose of limeyness for entertainment sake.

If you could capture bliss in a small round circle, this cookie would be it. Frighteningly wonderful. It’s like a mini bite of heaven.

And, as every fancy cookie deserves a fun name, these are called Lime Dimes. Why? Because I'm the mother of an infant and everything in my house rhymes. That, and the cookies are best tiny for 2 reasons: So you can completely enjoy the melty lime flavor, and so you can eat more of them... oh yes :)

Lime Dimes
• 1 stick butter
• 1 c granulated sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla
• 1 egg
• Zest of 1 lime
• About 2 tbsp lime juice (very limey flavor! Original called for 1 tbsp, feel free to decrease)
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 1 ¾ - 2 c flour
• Powdered sugar to dust

Cream together butter and sugar. Add vanilla, egg, zest, and lime juice, blend until smooth. Add dry ingredients just until mixed. You want the dough to be stiff enough to shape – start with 1 ¾ c and determine if you need more. When it doubt, err towards too soft because it will firm up in the freezer. Shape dough into 2 logs on parchment or freezer paper. You want a log with a 1” to 1 ½” diameter. Roll in the paper and freeze until firm.

To bake: Preheat oven to 350 F. Unwrap a log and slice it into ¼” rounds. Place on a cold baking sheet. Dust with powdered sugar (I put it in my tea strainer). Bake for 6-8 minutes, or until no longer shiny but NOT BROWN (just starting to brown on the bottom, but you can't see that while its cooking). Once out of the oven, dust with sugar again for that extra sweetness. Let cool on tray for about 2 minutes, then move to a cooling rack lined with another sheet of parchment paper – otherwise, the cookies will collapse through the rack. Restrain yourself as long as you can, or eat immediately.

I honestly can’t tell you how many cookies this makes… maybe 5dz? We ate them too quickly to count!

Field Trip

2011-06-27T19:49:00.005-05:00

Do you remember back in school, when your teacher (or mom, for homeschoolers!) told you that you were going on a field trip? Do you remember the excitement that came from breaking out of the regular routine to go do something special -- visit a special place, or special people? And if your field trips were anything like mine in school, the best part of visiting a museum was hitting the souvenier shop on the way back to the bus.

We went on a field trip this weekend :)

The MAIN reason for our adventure was to go spend the night with our best friends. Amanda and I were roomates the year we both were engaged and wedding planning. We're both celebrating 3rd anniversaries this summer, and we've stayed super close. Our husbands have become best friends, too. The only downside is the 2hr drive. It's kind of wonderful to have good friends :)

Midgey making faces at Keith

But remember what I said about hitting the souvenier shop? Oh yeah... even this kind of field trip wouldn't be complete without taking home a memory:

Cottonbabies Cloth Diaper Store

Have I mentioned that I'm COMPELTELY addicted to cloth diapers? I honestly can't imagine any other way. Plus, they're downright darling. I won't tell you how often I've browsed diaper sites, or how much "research" (ahem, window shopping) I did even before Gracie showed up. So when Amanda realized that the Cottonbabies store was only a few minutes from her house, I quite honestly couldn't resist! Lucky coincidence we came down the weekend Gracie outgrew her first set of covers... oh boy! I had an actual REASON to shop, not just a desire! I was more excited than a kid in a candy store.

Yes, I'm that dorky... and so is the cashier! It was an exciting time.

I restrained myself to a couple covers and a couple wet bags (to replace the plastic shopping bags we've been using). And I'm planning a return trip with my mom, who also lives in the area. I thought websites were fun... the brick-and-mortar store is down right better than a theme park.

So if anyone finds themselves in the St. Louis area, let me know and I'll meet you at Cottonbabies! It'll be an adventure!

Crash Course in Parenting Philosophy

2011-06-23T08:47:00.000-05:00

Gracie's 6 1/2 weeks old! How time flies! Surprisingly, other than loving on my baby, the one thing I've had a ton of time for lately is reading. Grace nurses *a lot* and I'm not a "just sit there" kind of girl. So, as a new mom, what do I read? Every parenting philosophy book I can get my hands on.

Here's a summary of my reading list over the past 6 weeks:

Happiest Baby on the Block

Secrets of the Baby Whisperer

Babywise

Dr. Sear's Baby Book

What to Expect the First Year

Your Baby's First Year, Week by Week

Plus a healthy handful of magazines and articles

Information overload much?

I'm a reader. It's who I always have been and probably always will be. I want to know everything I can to make sure I'm doing it "right." The problem with parenting? There is no "right." Oh boy, am I struggling with this.

We started out doing pretty straight-forward Attachment Parenting, as endorsed by Sears et. al. Wear your baby, feed on demand, shared sleeping, etc. I love the idea -- who doesn't love cuddling a bundle of joy 24hrs a day? But in practice? I don't know about your household, but some parts of this just don't fly here. I like my pillows and blankets way too much to safely share sleeping arangements with Grace. And, since I'm a first time mommy with very little baby experience, I'm really struggling with her cues: to me, everything sounds like "hungry." The poor girl spent the whole weekend crying while nursing. Turns out she was completely exhausted and I kept trying to keep her awake to feed. I was exhausted, too -- she was eating every 45min to hour. Sigh. Live and learn.

So while my poor sweetheart cried the weekend away, Stressed-Out-Mommy spent nursing time reading Baby Whisperer and Babywise, trying to find "a better way." Both those philosophies recommend a Flexible Routine concept. Baby wakes up, baby eats, baby plays, baby sleeps. This is in contrast to the AP idea of nursing Baby to sleep. They also recommend putting Baby down awake and using Cry it Out. I love the idea of getting Grace less dependant on me to fall asleep, but honestly? I think it might kill me to let her cry at this point.

So here I am, knowing too much information and struggling to successfully apply any of it. We're doing the eat/play/sleep routine from Babywise... wearing Gracie in our Moby wrap a la Attachment Parenting... putting her down awake according to Baby Whisperer... and to confuse everything, using a pacifier...

And of course, praying all along that hopefully someday she'll turn out all right.

What do you do? Do you follow a philosophy? Or do you fling it all together in a happy hodge-podge of ideas? And most importantly, does it SOMEDAY start to make sense?!?!

We're Here!

2011-06-13T16:48:00.004-05:00

Just a quick note to say, Gracie's 5 weeks old! It's crazy how fast time is flying. I feel like I've gotten absuloutely nothing done, except for cuddling my little cutie.

Tummy Time

Babywearing at the Farmer's Market / Art Fair

Well, not quite nothing. My mom found, while cleaning, my grandmother's serger. Now, my grandmother's been gone for 6 years, but she is still and always will be kinda my hero. She was the only other lefty in the family. I learned to sew and to smock from her, as well as to paint and sing. We were kindred spirits. There's kind of an understanding that her sewing stuff is now mine. So, when Mom found the serger, she packed it up and brought it to me. I'm still learning to use it, but I whipped up a stack of cloth wipes out of some cheap flannel the other day. It's good to be sewing again. :)

I'm half-way through another stack of sewing projects, so hopefully I'll have something REAL to post about soon!

Fluff :)

2011-05-26T19:01:00.003-05:00

I wanted to show off my little fluffy bum. Cloth diapers are the cutest :) None of her onesies are long enough to snap over them, tho... going to have to get that figured out eventually!

Comment Trouble

2011-05-25T08:28:00.004-05:00

For some reason, Blogger won't let me comment on my own posts... I wanted to take a second to reply to your sweet advice on my breastfeeding post.

I really appreciate all your advice. This is just getting me down. I know we'll make it through -- mostly because I'm too stubborn to quit -- but it *is* really stressful. I pump some to help Grace latch but haven't fed her anything from a bottle as of yet. It's just to take the edge off engorgement. Although we've had zero troubles with confusion over the paci, I'm afraid of what might happen with the bottle.

I called the number for our local La Leche League on Sunday and haven't heard back yet. I'll have to try the LCs at the hospital, but I really would rather not go back there.

Serena, she is gaining weight beautifully. At her 1 week appointment, she had put on 12oz from when we were discharged: everything she'd lost plus 4oz extra. That, at least, is reassuring. She's getting what she needs even if I'm struggling. Would you mind emailing me privately? I do have a question for your LC friend. My email is sandjpreston08 @ live . com (without the spaces.) Thanks!

Mrs G, that sounds awful! You must have an iron will.

Rachel, no tounge-tie that I'm aware of. We don't go back to the dr. for another 2 weeks; if I'm still struggling then, I'll have to ask. I'm glad to hear that the 1st baby doesn't necessarily set the pace for all the rest!

Thanks again, ladies. I needed a boost. And, I'm so grateful for all your prayers. They certainly do make a difference! My sister's coming up today so it'll be a nice change of pace. Maybe I'll even sneak a nap!

Joys and a Big Disappointment

2011-05-23T08:57:00.005-05:00

It's been a long 2 weeks. Our new little family of three got off to a great start, as I wrote in Gracie's birth story. But even with a good start, a few things have been rough. First, the absolute joys:

I love not being pregnant. I love laying on my belly. I love kissing my little girl's feet instead of trying to push them out of my rib cage. I love touching my toes and tying my own shoes. I don't miss pregnancy a bit, yet at least!

I love cloth diapers! They're easy and fun. We're only doing them part-time while we adjust to our sweetheart, but it's enough to know I'm NEVER spending money on disposables again!

I love "wearing" Gracie in her Moby. It's so much easier than a stroller while we're out and about. And at home, I can actually get a few things done. I think a wrap or carrier is a "must" for mommas whose babies are only happy being held -- like mine.

Unfortunately, there's been one, big, huge bummer with having Gracie here. Maybe someone can help me...

I hate breastfeeding.

As good as her birth went, we didn't get off a well on breastfeeding. Since she was born on Sunday, the lactation consultants weren't available until the next morning, when Gracie was nearly 30 hours old. She was asleep when they came in, so we just talked -- they didn't actually see her nursing. We met with another just before discharge when she was over 48 hours old. Now, in those 48 hours, she fed just fine... for her. But she did some serious damage to my delicate skin. My skin was cracked and bleeding due to her ferocious suck. You see, she's a comfort sucker. She'd go for HOURS if I let her.

Well, the LC helped me adjust her latch so she wasn't causing more damage. She also suggested I use a pacifier when Grace just wants to suck, at least while I heal.

Two weeks later I'm FINALLY starting to heal. I don't scream when she latches on anymore -- that was a fun few days (not). I'm glad Shaune was able to take off work because I needed him here to do counter pressure on my feet or shoulders while Grace latched on or I completely couldn't do it. We're past the worst as the skin starts to regrow, but I still hate it.

I almost broke the other night and went to a store to buy bottle feeding supplies. I get why women don't do this. I'm not sure what stopped me, but we're still here, still struggling through it with prayer and determination.

Does it get better, eventually? I really do want to do this for her health and mine, but I just don't know how much more constant pain I can put up with. The problem is that with her being constantly hungry, I'm not able to heal quickly. I have lanolin, and pH-balancing treatments, and "shells" that keep air flowing and clothing not touching. Everything helps a little but my nerves are still so raw. Breastfeeding is just downright exhausting.

I'm really disappointed. I wanted this to go well :( And it's such a big thing, it's overwhelming my joys of everything else. Anyone overcome this before?

Gracie's Birth Story

2011-05-18T11:18:00.001-05:00

I finally have a moment of quiet while my dear baby girl plays with her daddy, so I can steal a second or two to tell you how she got here :)

I woke up with a ripping contraction at 4am on Saturday, May 7th. All the sudden I felt silly for going in on the 2nd with false labor -- there really is no comparison. They started every 10-12 minutes apart; I was able to stay in bed and rest between them. I was glad it was Saturday because I didn't really want to be alone through it all. Shaune was a champ, helping by doing counter-pressure on my back through contractions.

We spent the day preparing for Gracie as the contractions came closer and closer together. We walked around the block. We watched a movie. We returned library books and walked around the Lincoln Home site (right next door to the library). We walked the botanical gardens at Washington Park. We even got ice cream and pizza! It was a special time to spend on our last day as just a couple. By evening, the contractions were about 3-4 minutes apart and getting very strong. We started seriously considering going to the hospital.

I held out at home until about 10pm -- 18 hours after true labor started. At that point I felt the urge to settle in and not move; time to go, since we certainly weren't prepared for a home birth! Due to contractions slowing us down, it took another hour to make it to the car, across town, and across the hospital parking lot -- a 10 minute process on an average day. We arrived at 11, just after the doors were locked for the night, necessitating admittance through the ER. The ER is about as far from L&D as possible, so an escort took me in a wheelchair past the dark empty cafeteria, gift shops, waiting rooms, etc. It was a surreal experience. Every contraction I had to keep from flinging myself out of the wheelchair -- I don't like to labor sitting down!

Aparently Saturday was a busy day for babies, so we had to wait in the triage room until an LDR room could be cleared by moving a current patient to Pediatrics. It was midnight before I was in my own room. One of the reasons we chose the hospital we did was because of the jacuzzi bathtubs in each LDR room -- after being checked (only 6cm!) I climbed in and camped out for the next several hours.

My OB was on duty that night, but I didn't see her until 4am -- 24 hours into this ordeal. When I got into my room they had started me on a saline drip due to dehydration. She came in to check me, then discuss interventions. Four more hours of laboring had only brought me to 7cm. I REALLY wanted to continue laboring naturally. The pain was intense but my conviction was stronger. Shaune helped me focus and kept encouraging me: "You can do this, and you will." We asked the OB to come back shortly. We used that time to pray about our options, since she was very hesitant to NOT intervene, especially since I had convinced her to only do intermittant monitoring. I either had to let her act, or go on the monitor full time (which would restrict me to bed). When she returned, I had decided to let her break my water in the hopes of making things go quicker. She got the kit and it was broken at 5:25am -- 26.5 hours after I'd begun laboring.

It only took one more hour (back in the tub, of course!) for me to progress to more than 9cm. I started breathing the "right way" and feeling the urge to push. The labor nurse came in to assist and had to help me keep from pushing yet since I still had a "lip" on my cervix. I Kegaled with her help and Shaune's for another half hour while Pediatrics were called for Gracie and the doctor got ready for me. I got the go-ahead to push at 7am. Grace Abigail was born at 7:18am -- a perfect Mother's Day gift!

She came out absolutely beautiful, partly (I believe) because I didn't have to push for very long. She didn't have time to get mushed and bruised. I did tear a little, and while the doctor was putting in stitches and Shaune helped rub Gracie down, I just zoned out and listened. The nursing team had just changed shifts and a couple of them were chatting -- no one believed this was my first baby since transition and delivery went so quickly. They were also impressed that delivery was as short as it was because I apparently have "the shortest contractions ever" -- only about 30 seconds. We got a lot done in those 30 second intervals!

I wish I hadn't have had any interventions at all -- no saline, no breaking of waters -- but in the grand scheme of things, it couldn't have gone any better. The rest of the day, every time a new nurse came in, I heard, "You're the first-timer who did it all naturally, right?" It was extremely rewarding. She was so vigorous and alive immediately after birth. Her 1min and 5min APGARs were both 9. We were able to enjoy her right away, and I was up on my feet (and in a shower!) in less than an hour. It was a beautiful experience, and I'm so grateful to my dear husband for helping me so much through it, and for keeping my focus on the end result:

Grace Abigail, moments after birth. We've seen that pouty face many times since then!

Photo Bomb

2011-05-14T18:34:00.005-05:00

Because everyone loves pictures of a baby :)

I'm working on Gracie's birth story, but just a teaser: it went nearly exactly how I would have chosen. I'm extremely grateful.

Little blue eyes :)

Loving on my baby!

We sent her to the nursery for a couple hours so we could sleep (a friend from church was a nurse on the floor that night, and we totally trust her). Gracie came back decorated!

Heading home for the first time

Welcome Gracie!

2011-05-08T19:53:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to take a minute to let you know I got the best Mother's Day gift ever! My little girl was born this morning!

I'll have pictures once we're home from the hospital. Until then, here's the details:

Grace Abigail (going by Gracie)

May 8, 2011

7lb 9oz, 20.5 in

I stuck it out through 27 hours and did it completely naturally -- nothing until after, when they convinced me to take a couple regular tylonol "just in case." We're both perfectly healthy and enjoying settling into a routine as a family of three. She's got a full head of hair and bright blue eyes -- simply lovely!

Thanks for all your prayers over the past week!

Fake Out

2011-05-02T19:27:00.004-05:00

** sigh** Seriously, I woke up this morning entirely convinced I'd have something better to post. I was awakened (significantly before the alarm) by contractions coming in quick succession. They took my breath away and made me stop dead in my tracks. I held out til the dr. opened then called for advice -- "Go in!" they said. So I did.

Little stinker. She's got an opinion, that's for sure. She's still tucked in there, all nuzzled up in my rib cage, and I'm at home again.

I spent a little over two hours on a monitor at the hospital. Those two hours I had consistant contractions 2-4 minutes apart... the whole time. And yet! They're not accomplishing ANYTHING! I'm dialated exactly the same as I was last week. 2 MINUTES! I didn't even know they could BE that close together and not doing anything. At least I have a better idea as to why I've been sooooooo exhausted...

So, we're home. Disappointed and slightly crabby, as well as extremely drained. At least we didn't call everyone. And hey, now I've got a little more time to try and finish a few projects. Well... until the next time she pulls this stunt. Of course, at that point, I may just hold out ("what if it's still not the right time?") and end up giving birth here at home accidentally. That would be ok too.

Hope you all are well! Sorry to be a downer :( I'll have brighter thoughts soon enough.

37/38 weeks... the final count-down!

2011-04-26T09:43:00.004-05:00

I was arranging the nursery (again) this morning and had a full on panic attack: there is NO WAY they're going to give us our kid! We're too... too... they're going to laugh at us and take her away. I don't *really* think that, but gee wiz is the feeling strong! The closer I get the more I realize that I don't have a clue.

We're officially in go-mode. I went to the dr. yesterday morning and she got this strange look on her face. "Hm... (silence). You might actually be doing something." Whatever that means -- something or nothing. We'll see. I've been contracting frequently (5+ an hour) but not regularly and I've given up trying to tell the difference between Braxton-Hicks and "real." My dr. told me they were some of each -- I'd progessed to 4cm, 80%. It was stressing me out to guess between the two. I had my "show" this morning. Bags are packed and waiting by the door.

Everyone keeps telling me to enjoy this time, but honestly? I'm feeling crummy and kind of miserable. I haven't eaten since Sunday because my tummy's so upset. I know the next step is going to hurt like a beast -- but I'd rather be there than stuck in a waiting pattern! Discomfort (it's only occasionally pain) would be easier to deal with if I knew it was going to end soon. Maybe today... one can hope :)

36 weeks or so :)

2011-04-18T20:03:00.003-05:00

Well ladies, I've made it to the final count-down! I'm 36 weeks by one count, 37 by another, and honestly, I'm not sure I'm going to make it all the way. Haha, don't all first-timers say that? Really tho, I kinda hope I don't. I'm ready to breath again. Baby Girl's already dropped and I'm at 2.5 cm. It's making me cautiously hopeful. I know I could go for another month like this, but I'm curious for you moms: How long were you just-a-little dialated? Did it really last forever, or did you keep progressing once you started? I'm having Braxton-Hicks contractions a couple times every hour and some of them HURT, but it's not particularly "regular." I even made it to the gym tonight. I'd love to know what you experienced. In the mean time, I guess I should wash a load of baby clothes or something... since I've kind of done NOTHING up til now!

Soul Gardening

2011-04-14T14:14:00.003-05:00

Where you tend a rose, a thistle can not grow (The Secret Garden)

I just love springtime. It's my favorite time of the year. It gets warm, the green things start growing, random flowers errupt everywhere. It's a blessed time -- especially after a long winter. I spent the past week pouring over The Secret Garden once again (what a delightful book!). I guess spring's gotten into my heart, because even my Bible studies have taken me to gardens.

Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree,

and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.

This will be for the Lord's renown,

for an everlasting sign which will not be destroyed.

Isaiah 55:13

He replaces the ugly with the beautiful; the thorny with the useful. Why? To show God's renown -- his fame, celebrity, eminence, good reputation, and glory. It's his sign of redemption, to remove our ugly bits and leave the good. Christ talks about this in the Gospel of John as well:

I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

John 15:1-2

We have to have the dead bits removed so that the Christlike parts of us can flourish. We can't be successful servants of God if we're still clinging to our bitterness and selfishness. He has to remove those thorns and replace them with forgiveness and selflessness for us to truly make a difference in the kingdom. And the same concept applies to every other thorny bit of our souls as well.

So my question is, are you willing to let God muck around in your personality? Gardening isn't easy... breaking ground can break your back, and a freshly-pruned bush can look just awful. Removing the dead bits can be downright painful. But you have to remember what happens after: fresh seeds spring up from the turned soil, and the bush regrows healthier, stronger, and more fruitful than ever before. It's worth it. Will you let God garden in your soul?

Fluffy Mail

2011-04-07T19:29:00.002-05:00

Oh WHY does my camera battery have to die TODAY, and the charger be completely missing? You'll just have to trust my raptures until I track down the charger. My fluffy mail came today! My cloth diapers! I'm ridiculously excited... more than I probably should be about glorified poop-catchers for my baby who isn't even here yet. I've spent the past weeks... no, really, months... researching and reading everything I can track down about cloth diapering. We knew we wanted to do it, and I needed something to study. (I've been going through withdrawl since graduating college). I read forums and reviews. I stalked every website I could find. I polled friends -- online and IRL. I even made charts of price comparisions, shipping costs, and delivery times. Convinced I'm a TOTAL nerd yet? I finally ended back where I first started: prefolds and covers. Nicky's Diapers had the best combination price for the 3dz diapers and 3 covers, and I ended up $5 over the minimum for free shipping. And they arrived today -- when I only ordered Monday! My poor husband thinks I've lost my mind. It's better than Christmas. I can't help but share :)

I'm Still Here

2011-03-29T08:16:00.003-05:00

I haven't dropped off the face of the planet, promise :) But I am counting down the days... hours... minutes until Friday. What's Friday? Other than April Fools (always entertaining), it's my last day of employment for the forseeable future. I'm so excited... and exhausted. I've been working overtime to boost my last couple paychecks before I'm home full-time. I'm very ready.

My 32 week bump

Our house is slowly but surely coming along. All the tile has been removed from the bathroom, along with the sink, vanity, medicine cabinet, and light fixtures. Shaune made a new friend at church who is a retired electrician -- he's coming over bright and early Saturday to help us rewire to modern code. No more 1932 paper wrapped wire in this house! I detest living in a construction zone, but alas... it's necessary. I just keep reminding myself of the end goal: a lovely house before Baby Girl comes home. It is possible! She's still growing well. She's a mover... goodness! I never realized just how much exercise babies get while they're still inside! My poor organs... I finally saw my doctor yesterday for the first time since early January (I've been with nurses since I'm not high-risk) and had the labor talk. I'm so glad to hear that she's got similar opinions to me. I'm going to have to have a hep-lock available for IVs, but she won't hook anything into it unless totally necessary. She's willing to do intermitant monitoring and doesn't induce for over-term until after the 42 week mark (as long as everything's looking ok). She'll allow me to drink whatever I want in labor, and although she did say "no eating," she winked and smiled, which is code for "what I don't see won't hurt." Not bad, considering that the hospital where I'll be delivering is in one of the most sue-happy counties in the country! They are so overly cautious with liability here... that's part of why it was a challenge to find a doctor at all. There are no (advertised) midwives, no independent birth centers, no anything except one extremely large (40+ OB) medical group. I got a good one, out of those 40. 7 weeks left. I hit 33 weeks yesterday. However, my original due date was a week earlier, which would be 6 weeks. Either way, this is the last week they'll stop pre-term labor -- it's practice in this area to not stop it past 34 weeks. I'm starting to pull together a bag and praying she doesn't come before my showers -- one of which isn't until the 27th of April! Keep cooking, Little Girl!

Single Car Families?

2011-03-08T16:35:00.002-06:00

Hi ladies! I wanted to ask your opinion on something that's coming up in our near future: Are any of you single-car families?

My dear, darling, 12 year old 210,000 mile car isn't going to make it much longer and we're looking at not replacing it. Have any of you made do with a little one and just one car? What do you have to do to make it work?

Thanks for sharing!

30 Weeks and Nesting

2011-03-07T08:21:00.005-06:00

Why can't I nest like other pregnant women? You know -- sew up a few cute little things, spend way too much money buying cute little wall decor, clean everything so it shines like a hospital? That would be normal. I've never been normal. Instead, I decided to destroy the only bathroom in our house:

Yeah... that's smart.

The tile's coming down, and so is most of the paster behind it. 80 year old plaster in a bathroom with bad tile permanently adhered doesn't like to stay on the wall. It's a hot mess. Shaune called in reinforcements: I'm kicked out on Saturday and the boys are replastering the whole disaster; then we'll paint and retile (just the shower area this time). Don't watch HGTV ladies... it'll give you an inflated sense of ability.

And maybe THEN I'll the moving boxes out of what-will-be the nursery! This poor child... lol. At least we've got a carseat. Beyond that, her mom's insane.

Blueberry's Butterfly Quilt

2011-03-01T11:58:00.004-06:00

As soon as I found out I was pregnant, I knew I wanted to make my little one a quilt. One that was bright and cuddly, perfect for a little person to play on and sleep under. Then we found out we were having a girl :) I would have been completely thrilled with a boy -- seriously! -- but there's just something fun about sewing for a little girl. I spent far longer than I should have at Joanne's Fabrics searching for the *perfect* fabric to make the *perfect* baby quilt for my little girl. And alas! Here is is:

Double Irish Chain is one of my all-time favorite blocks (I like the triple even more, but that was too many seams to match this time). I've always wanted to make it. So I did! God bless the women who came up with the rotary cutter and the strip-piecing method of quilting... without you, this would never have happened. I don't have the patience to match that many little squares. Goodness! Every time I make a quilt (and I ONLY strip piece), I get more and more respect for those ladies who pieced each individual little piece of the horribly complex quilts I've seen from the past. They're amazing.

I couldn't resist this butterfly print. It's lovely. The back is daisies and I'm going to applique a butterfly out of scraps along with the quilt label. The binding will be the royal blue like the inner border (and the tiniest butterflies! Can you see them?). And I have *just enough* of the butterfly print left over to make a little dress to bring Blueberry home in.

Here's where I'm struggling: As much as I LOOOOOVE to piece quilt tops (strip piece!), I actually dread the quilting part. I don't know why. I've only actually finished quilting one quilt. I've started a couple others and lost interest. I'm hoping that this time I have enough motivation -- and a deadline! -- to keep me going. I've decided to hand quilt since I've been having to spend a lot of time with my feet up. I hate being idle. This'll keep my hands busy.

I need your ideas. How should I go about quilting this? I was just going to straight stitch down the center of the pink chain and "in the ditch" along the borders, but I need SOMETHING for in the big butterfly squares. I'm at a total loss. And, I should probably do SOMETHING inside the big green border, too. Any thoughts? I'd appreciate it -- I'm clueless!

Philosophy of Beauty

2011-02-25T10:26:00.003-06:00

I just finished reading a fabulous book that I can't help but share with you. It was a random find: Shaune and I had gone to the local bookstore for a "date," where we get a special coffee and wander around for a few hours, enjoying the books and magazines. I hadn't planned on buying anything, but this book caught my eye:

What a weird title! And an eye catching cover! And it was only just recently (2006) translated from French. It's a novel, but even more than that, it's a discussion of philosophy. Each of the two narrators is looking for worth and beauty in their worlds, and they craft essays describing the good they've found (or the lack of it).

Each chapter is only 3, maybe 4 pages, but it draws you in so deeply. Here's a teaser from the section on grammar:

I don't like Achille Grand-Fernet but in this case I agreed with him when
he asked this question. I feel it was long overdue. Moreover, when a literature
teacher uses a split infinitive like that, I'm really schocked. It's like
someone sweeping the floor and forgetting the dust bunnies. "What's the point of
grammar?" asked Achille. "You ought to know by now," replied Madame
Never-mind-that-I-am-paid-to-teach-you. "Well, I don't," replied Achille,
sincerely for once, "no one ever bothered to explain it to us." Nadame Fine let
out a long sigh, of the "do I really have to put up with such stupid questions"
variety, and said, "The point is to make us speak and write well."
I thought I would have a heart attack there and then. I have never heard
anything so grossly inept...
Personally I think grammar is a way to attain beauty. When you speak, or
read, or write, you can tell if you've said or read or written a fine sentence.
Upi cam recpgmoze a well turned phrase or an elegant style. But when you are
applying the ruses of grammar skillfully, you ascend to another level of the
beauty of language....
And on the way home I thought: pity the poor in spirit who know neither the
enchantment nor the beauty of language.

Yum. Check it out the next time you need some brain food. I guarentee you won't be bored :)

And all will be well

2011-02-25T10:20:00.002-06:00

I'm so grateful to you for praying for me during my testing on Monday. Although I brutally failed my first glucose screening, the second one came back "perfectly normal." I've dodged the diabetic bullet for now, but it has scared me into looking over my diet more carefully. Baby Girl doesn't really like food (lol), just snacks and junk. A hot meal just isn't appealing, so I've blended up a healthy trail mix with nuts and dried fruit. Anything's better than poptarts :)

Countdown has started! Only 11 weeks to go!

The Scope of the Project

2011-02-13T19:21:00.002-06:00

My husband and I are hard-core do-it-yourselfers. We bought an 80 year old house with 80 year old house issues. We're too poor and/or too cheap to hire anyone to do work for us, so every project turns into quite the adventure. Our bathroom sink has been leaking, so since Shaune was off on Friday for Lincoln's Birthday, he decided to take care of it. Half an hour, hour tops, to turn off the water and put some plumber's tape in the valve.

On the other side of the weekend, the bathroom sink has been replumbed entirely. New valves, new pipes, even a new vanity and new sink -- and new power tools! What started so small turned into an epic project when the valve handle snapped off in Shaune's hand as he went to turn the water off. It spiraled from there.

It's just the way my brain works, but in this chaos I saw something so comforting I just had to share with you. Isn't it wonderful -- God already knows the scope of the project before he begins. He knows everything it will take to sanctify us before we're even born! He isn't surprised when he reaches the corroded valve in our hearts that won't let us turn off the flow of sin. He isn't shocked when our perfect-looking facade cracks down the middle, revealing our spiritual ugliness. He doesn't complain when the project that was supposed to be minutes turns into days -- he already had an accurate timeline. And nothing he finds in us will cause him to step back, gasp, and comment, "Maybe I got in over my head on this one!"

I'm glad to be God's project. I'm glad he's the master, who can evaluate my heart for what it REALLY is, and not just what I'd like it to be. I don't have to understand because I'm not in control. He is... and He is more than capable.

Happy Baby-Brain Land

2011-02-09T18:58:00.003-06:00

I have gotten nothing accomplished for weeks. Literally, nothing... past daydreaming at least. But I FINALLY got my sewing machine out of the garage (doesn't mean it's set up yet). I also decided on the quilt for Baby Blueberry: I'm going to do a triple irish chain with animals appliqued/embroidered in the "blank" squares. Fulfills my needs for a complicated project, plus my recent bizzare cravings for hand-work. Should be lovely -- I ordered the pattern today and am dragging Shaune to the fabric store on Saturday to pick out cottons.

Oh, and if you don't mind, would you send some prayers my way? Although Baby Girl is doing just fine, I've had some bloodwork for myself come back abnormal. She's sapping my system. My iron's really low and my blood sugar is out of balance. I have to go in for further testing on the 21st. I'm making some changes to my diet now and praying that everything comes out ok after the tests. This "growing new life" thing takes a lot out of you!

Snowpocolapse Soup

2011-02-02T19:42:00.004-06:00

When outside looks like this:

Leaving behind this:

And this:

What's a girl to do but make something warm and comforting like this?

Black bean soup in whole wheat bread bowls. yummm.... Perfect for a cold night of getting snowed in. The bread bowls are no-knead bread taken from this recipe here (with some alterations). I've been making up batches of this about every 2-3 days. We don't eat a whole lot of bread here, unless this is lying around. The recipe is kind of small so if you're feeding more than a handful of people, double it.

The black bean soup is a family favorite. My mom found it, my sister perfected it, and I make it all the time :) It's spicy -- really! -- so be careful! Add extra corn or cheese to cool it down. Cheddar or Mexican Blend is wonderful.

Spicy Black Bean Soup

Cooking spray
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 medium garlic cloves, minced
45 oz. canned black beans, undrained (=3 15 oz. cans) (I use a randomly approximate amount of beans cooked from dry, plus enough of the cooking liquid to just cover)
½ tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp ground cumin
14 ½ oz fat-free chicken broth, or vegetable broth (or 2 cubes bullion with 14oz water)
10 oz canned tomatoes with green chilies (Rotel)
11 oz can yellow corn, drained

Coat bottom of a large stockpot with cooking spray. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until onions are soft but not brown, about five minutes.

Place one can of beans in blender; add sautéed onion mixture, red pepper flakes, and cumin. Cover and blend on high until smooth, about 30 seconds. Pour mixture back into stockpot.

Place second can of beans and broth in blender and puree until smooth; add to stockpot.

Stir third can of beans (do not puree first), tomatoes w/ green chilies, and corn into stockpot. Bring to a boil, lower heat to medium and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes. Yields about 6 servings.

OPTIONAL (and time saving): Instead of blending stuff before cooking, use an immersion / Stick Blender once you've added everything but the corn. It was the best $10 kitchen tool I ever bought for things like smooth soup and sauces. I use it enough that it's earned a place in my kitchen right next to the stove instead of in some obscure cabinet throughout the house (like the ice cream maker).

24 Weeks

2011-01-26T08:15:00.003-06:00

Whoa! Where'd this come from!?

Can't deny that baby anymore! She's growing strong and kicking a ton. I think she's also falling into a schedule: I definately feel her have busy times (10:30pm, every single night) and calmer times (thankfully, while I'm at work). Every now and again there will be a little appendage-shaped bulge push out on my belly for just a few seconds. It's pretty cool :) I'm still feeling pretty great, but my energy is starting to drop off. By the time I get home from work, I have to take a nap before I can get started on the evening life (dinner, chores, etc).

We love you, Baby Girl! Keep on growing!

Idle Hands Love to Knirt

2011-01-15T20:51:00.004-06:00

Do you remember that old saying, "Idle hands are the devil's workshop"? I'm not sure about the theological implications of that, but I do know that I'm happiest when my hands are busy.

Lately, I've spent a lot of evenings with my feet up. It's the product of a busy life plus being 23 weeks pregnant. Lots of feet-up time means lots of movie-watching time (gotta love my Austen classics, yum). That also means, lots of knitting time! Guess who benefits? BLUEBERRY!

I know, I know, she's a girl... but blue is really my favorite color and she IS our Blueberry... and I found this cone of varigated blue cotton on sale for reaaaaallly cheap at one of those big box stores. So, lo and behold, a bounty of beautiful blue (and white) baby goodies. The white is 100% cotton, too :)

This blanket kept growing. I guess it's something to do with the elasticity of the cotton, or the fact that I knit straight garter stitch on 8s, but it seems much larger than when I started. 3 strips of garter knit, sewn together, then decorated with a crocheted border. Simple and wonderful -- hours of car time during the holidays. It WAS going to be 5! strips, but Shaune made me stop :) It's got a lovely feel to it. I think I'm addicted to cotton :)

I still had a ton of blue left so I made a little hat and some shoes. The shoes, you can't see it, but they have a row of eyelets just below the top edge. I'm going to get some pretty white ribbon to do an ankle lace, kinda like ballet slippers. Can you picture it? The hat's all ruffly at the bottom edge. I LOVE this pattern and am probably going to make about a hundred more -- little cotton hats will be perfect for summer (if she'll keep them on, of course).

There's STILL blue left (but it is wearing down), so I think I'm going to make a little dress next. At least the bodice of one... I might do a cotton eyelet skirt. I have some in my stash that would look charming gathered on to a knit bodice.

Oh my... this little girl is going to have more stuff than she can feasibly wear before she outgrows it. She's not going to be spoiled... no, not at all... ;-)

Pink!

2011-01-15T14:44:00.001-06:00

Since my whole house -- in fact, my whole world -- is in the process of turning pink, I figured my blog should play along, too. :)

Enjoy! I promise it'll be temporary :)

I Need your Help: Diapering

2011-01-06T09:35:00.002-06:00

Dear Ladies, I need to tap your fountain of wisdom. We've decided to pursue cloth diapering with Little One and I have no idea what I actually need. Oh, I've spent weeks looking at different websites, offering more and more complicated (and expensive) cloth diapering soluntions. I can tell you one method (I'm pretty sure) we're NOT doing: I don't think I want to buy 20+ all-in-ones at more than $20 a piece. I'm leaning towards contoured diapers inside covers. Of course, I've never done this, so I could be wrong...

Here's where I need your help:

Did you cloth diaper? If so, what kind did you use?
Did you like doing it that way?
How many diapers do you REALLY need? I don't want to be stuck doing laundry EVERY day, but every other or every third is totally reasonable.
Any other advice you can offer a first-timer?

HELP! My mom asked me to pull together a registry, and I definately want to get the diapers on there if I can. Thanks in advance for any thoughts!

News!

2011-01-04T20:09:00.002-06:00

I have news for you, cleverly displayed in this photograph my husband played with:

We got to go in and see her yesterday morning. She's strong and active, with loooong legs and arms. And a big ole fluffy baby bum! We're at 15oz -- almost a pound! -- and 10 inches long. I'm so excited :)

Did I mention, she's active? Like.. seriously. She's hardly ever still! During the sonogram, she was literally turning summersaults and backflips. The tech shook my belly to try to get her to turn certain ways, but she wouldn't stay that way long enough to get any photos. It was actually really funny. The best part (for me at least) is that the tech wasn't able to finish her "checklist" because of Baby's wiggliness. That means that I get another sono next month :) I'm certainly not complaining, because they scheduled the sono during the wait time for my glucose tolerance test (boo, not looking forward to THAT part of the visit). While my blood sugar rockets around, I'll get to watch my baby more.

Blessings to you, too, this wonderful New Year! 2011 is already shaping up to be a life-changing year!

2010-12-28T09:25:00.000-06:00

In the spirit of Christmas, and remembering why that baby boy came after all...

Jesus Paid it All (lyrics, copyright, etc)

I hear the Savior say,
“Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.”

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

For nothing good have I
Whereby Thy grace to claim,
I’ll wash my garments white
In the blood of Calv’ry’s Lamb.

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

Lord, now indeed I find
Thy power and Thine alone,
Can change the leper’s spots
And melt the heart of stone.

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

When from my dying bed
My ransomed soul shall rise,
“Jesus died my soul to save,”
Shall rend the vaulted skies.

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

Just a friendly reminder that true Christmas only makes sense in light of Easter. May God bless the rest of your holiday season and start you off to a Happy New Year!

Christmas Came Early

2010-12-21T08:51:00.002-06:00

I didn't appreciate how much of a gift it was to be home full-time until I wasn't. I've really been grateful for the opportunity to work this fall (and into the spring), but it hasn't come without a price. The house is a mess, the laundry's behind, and we've eaten countless meals of food that can best be described as junk. The trade-off has been our ability to buy our little house and get on secure financial footing before Baby comes in May. It's definately been worthwhile, but I've so missed my home.

But Christmas came early this year!

Due to the way my company pays holidays, we each got an extra day off this week. We always get Sunday-plus-one; this week we get Sunday-plus-two! And, I took a double shift for Wednesday, so I actually get Sunday-plus-three this week. I'm beside myself with joy. Today (Tuesday) is my first home-day in literally months. No errands... no classes... no commitments outside my own four walls. The big plan? Wearing a skirt (only my wrap one fits right now, oh pregnancy), wearing an apron, baking cookies, folding laundry, scrubbing the floors and the kitchen, maybe even finding a little time this afternoon to curl up in front of a movie and work on kitting Blueberry's blanket (thank goodness I have until May!). I'm cooking a big, healthy pot of soup and relishing in the gift that is today.

I'm off Thursday, too, when my sister is coming to spend the day with meand receive her early Christmas present: instruction on how to plan a menu and grocery shopping. She moved into an appartment in August and has been trying to figure all that out in addition to being a senior in college. I've planned her a couple menues of Once-A-Week cooking of her favorite meals. I haven't decided yet if we'll test run the cooking Thursday or just talk about it theoretically, but it's sure to be a wonderful day.

It's a gift I couldn't have known I needed: the gift of time. Time to appreciate doing the things I really love to do. Time to work on making my house into a home. Time to renew a special relationship with my sister. Time to just breathe.

I pray that this crazy, busy holiday week, you have an opportunity to think on the best gift we've been given: our Savior Christ, whose coming as a baby is celebrated at Christmas, but even more upon his sacrifice as a man at Calvary. And, I pray that your heart is nourished in the way you most need so that you can enter the new year refreshed and filled with supernatural joy.

God Bless!

Facing the Consequences

2010-12-18T08:44:00.002-06:00

It's been a challenging week in Springfield. Tuesday morning, the mayor of our city committed suicide. He's always been a Springfield boy -- several of my coworkers at the bank were personal friends of his. One had even just gone to dinner with him over the weekend. No one knew anything was wrong.

Part of why no one saw this coming is Mayor Davlin's suicide isn't like many others: he wasn't caught in a mire of depression and loneliness. No... I truly feel for those people whose world has grown so dark they see no other way out. I've been there. Mayor Davlin's case is quite different. Over the past few weeks, it has come out that he has been embezzling money from an estate he had power over, as well as evading federal taxes for the past several years. Tuesday morning he was due in court to face the music; when he didn't arrive, police were sent to his house to investigate and found him dead. He killed himself because he didn't want to face the consequences for his actions.

Every action has a consequence. If I go to bed very late, I will wake up tired in the morning. If I overeat at the many Christmas parties we're attending, I will feel uncomfortable and face indigestion. If I embezzle hundreds of thousands of dollars... I should expect to get caught, expect to have to repay the money, and expect to be shamed.

He didn't want to face the consequences.

The sad part is that this earth isn't all we have. Our own life isn't the only one we affect. He may have avoided having to explain himself in a human court of law, but now he must stand before the Eternal Judge. He may have avoided personal discomfort, but he leaves behind a family -- including 4 young grandchildren -- who have to navigate not only the legal issues he left behind but also the emotional damage of losing him a week and a half before Christmas. He left behind a city that truly loved him... a stack of half-finished projects. Was it worth it? For money, and the risk of embarrassment?

No matter what, on earth or in heaven, you can't avoid the consequences.

18 weeks, and all I want for dinner...

2010-12-13T15:57:00.003-06:00

This baby is strange. For the past several weeks (turning into lots), food just isn't appealing. None of the casseroles I've made for hubby; nothing from any restaurants; just... no food.

All I eat is fruit, snack foods, and popcorn. And tea... mmmm, tea. Of course the child would choose exotic fruits, too. I'm blowing through several pounds of kiwi, pomegranets, and grapefruit every week. And pears, but those aren't exactly exotic.

You'll laugh -- I know I did. Last Friday night, I spent hours cooking a big pot of chicken and dumplings, per special request of Hubby. It smelled excellent... the whole house smelled warm and homey. I lit a couple candles, dished up a couple big bowls, sat down with him at the table, took one bite... and that was it. It smelled awesome but just didn't taste right to my hormonal tounge. Shaune verifies it was as good as ever ; he ate his bowl, mine, and went back for more. I had a kiwi and 1/2 a pomegranet. And a mug of goldfish snack crackers.

I think the best thing about pregnancy so far is it's taught me that things don't make sense, and that's ok. I can't control everything. In fact, I can't control anything! I just have to make peace with whatever God throws my way, roll with the punches, and eat what I can. I have to trust that He's got it all figured out in the end. In the mean time, Baby and I are going to go grab a pear and just sit around -- when I'm still, Baby dances all over my belly. It's a glorious feeling :)

Happy Monday!

Getting Back on Track

2010-12-08T14:12:00.002-06:00

Do you know what the hardest part of a routine is? For me, it isn't setting it up in the first place. No. In my house, the hardest thing is when I have a brilliant (or at least functioning) routine down pat and then for whatever reason, I stop. Starting AGAIN is more challenging than anything the first time around.

That being said, this fall has been chaos. Not a single routine I had in place in August is occuring this first week of December.

To be fair, my reasons for dropping routine have been good. We *did* after all move into a new house (which immediately became a construction zone). Our new house is missing the dishwasher I had come to rely on at our apartment. I did start a nearly-full time job and a new ministry position that puts me out of the house, together, nearly 50 hours a week. Oh, and did I mention? On top of all that, I'm pregnant and that 1st trimester is a *real* challenge.

So my Christmas gift to my husband, my child-to-be, and myself -- more special and important than anything material available in any store -- is to get back on track with routines. I'm going to make an honest effort to get at LEAST back to where I was over the summer, and hopefully improve even further in a few key areas I've always struggled with (oh, laundry...).

So Sunday afternoon, I dug through all the boxes of books (which are still waiting for their shelves to be finished) to find my cookbooks. I brewed a pot of tea, grabbed my calendar and a blank notebook, and curled up to plan the menu for the week. This has got to be my favorite routine ever! I wrote up the grocery list, as well as a task list for the week. Tuesday mornings are my only home mornings (until I quit my job in the spring) so I made a jolly mess of the kitchen and cooked 3 days worth of dinner plus one extra for the freezer. It's been soooooo nice this week to have healthy, homecooked, tasty meals ready to be warmed up when I walk in the door exhausted at 6:30pm. I can't believe I went so long (cough... like, almost all 17 weeks of this pregnancy...) without a plan for the kitchen.

One routine down, and it's one of the most important! Now that we're fed, next week I'm going to add on laundry so we stop the morning scramble for work clothes. I've got to start it over the weekend tho, with finally -- FINALLY -- moving in the dressers from storage and unpacking all our clothes from the suitcases and laundry baskets and moving boxes they've called home for the past 2 months.

I'm curious: What's the most important routine in your household? What routine are you still trying to accomplish? And, once I have both cooking and laundry under way, what should I tackle next?

What a busy week!

2010-12-03T19:50:00.002-06:00

Guess what I'm doing tonight! I'm moving into my house!

Now, you're saying, "Wait... didn't they move way back in October?" Yes, we did. WE moved into our house, but none of our stuff did. It got stacked precariously in the garage out back while we did some substantial cosmetic rennovations to the interior. I've been living with a grand total of 4 pieces of furniture... in the ENTIRE house. One bed, one dresser, one comfy chair, and one kitchen table (and two kitchen chairs at it... so 6 total). Everything we need (ie, clothes) has been stacked in various moving boxes and laundry baskets or simply piles on the floor. Utter chaos.

And, as I'm increasingly preggo (17 weeks all the sudden), my tolerance for mess has steadily decreased. I want my little nest to actually have a place to sit :( BUT! Last night, my dearest darling husband finished painting the living room. This morning he got up early to remove the tarps and tapes. I'm ALMOST done cleaning the hardwood floor back to what it looked like in October. And tomorrow! Tomorrow my couch is coming in! And my books (have you ever gone 2 months without any books? Not even cookbooks? I'm glad it's over)! AND MY CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS!

I'm so grateful to Hubby. He's worked hard to get us to this point. There's still a ton to do, but I'm calling it quits until after the first of the year. It's time to relax and enjoy being homeowners!

Pictures soon :) I'm waiting til the "stuff" is in place :)

7 Questions Meme

2010-11-26T13:48:00.003-06:00

I'm bored at work on the day after Thanksgiving. Everyone's out shopping, and no one needs the services of the Bank... therefore, much internet time ensues. I stumbled across this over at Mrs. G's blog and thought it would fill some time!

1. Do you prefer Thanksgiving or Christmas? I love, love, LOVE Christmas and Advent leading up to it. Thanksgiving is an insane holiday in my world where we're expected to see EVERYONE all across the state. Christmas day is ours and ours alone -- telephones get turned off before we head out to evening service and aren't turned back on again until AT LEAST afternoon. It's a peaceful, worshipful time for just me and Hubby (and next year, Baby!)

2. If you had to choose between your computer and your television, which one would you get rid of? Easily TV. In fact, we practically already have. When we moved in October the TV got put in the garage (along with nearly everything else) while we redid the house. It's still out there and I haven't missed it at all.

3. Which book heroine do you think is the most like you? Jo March! Especially when I was younger. I have firm opinions and it's taken me a long time to learn how to express them at the right times, to the right people, using the right words. If I'm not careful, I definately speak before my brain can catch up!

4. What is your ancestry? As far as I know, I have a fair bit of Swedish in my blood. That would explain the tall blondeness. However, I do know my dad's been able to trace the Scottish line of our family back to their immigration papers in the early 1800s. My maiden name (Lawhead) is a mispelling from "loch" or lake.

5. What's your favorite flavor of Pringles? Original, for sure! Although the low-fat are prett

6. Are you old-fashioned? Only in certain things. I have great respect for the past, but love elements of now, too.

7. Do you prefer shopping online or in stores? It depends on what I'm shopping for. I buy clothes online because that's where I can find them, but htere's nothing like flipping through books at Barnes & Noble on a rainy Saturday.

I tag everybody! Here's the questions I want YOU to answer! Some are from above, some are new :) Copy them to your blog and answer each. If you answer please let me know so that I can read what you've written!

1. What's your favorite Christmas song or hymn, and why?
2. Which book heroine do you think is most like you?
3. What's for Christmas dinner -- turkey, ham, pasta, or something else entirely?
4. What's one piece of parenting advice you wish you had BEFORE the baby was born? If you're not a parent yet, what part of parenting are you most curious about?
5. What is your guilty-pleasure food?
6. Santa: Yes or No?
7. What is your most favorite part of the holiday season?

Have fun!

2010-11-17T08:02:00.004-06:00

I received a fascinating email first thing this morning from the president of my alma matter. Although I am not Catholic, I am a proud graduate of a local Catholic university. I wanted to share this with you because it provided some fascinating food for thought.

Here's the situation:

The director of the Teacher's Education Program is a lesbian. It wasn't a surprise; she was director before Benedictine took over the local college (although the local college was Catholic as well -- Ursuline in fact). The university has a policy similar to the military's don't-ask-don't-tell: she was expected to endorse 1) General teaching best practices and 2) Catholic worldview while at work.

The dilemma arose when she and her partner went to Iowa over the summer and get married. Then, they came home and put a wedding announcement in several of the local papers. In the announcement, she stated her place of employment -- this Catholic university -- by name. As a result, this woman lost her job at the university, not for her sexual orientation but for defaming the university's religious reputation and not withholding her employment contract. She is currently procuring a lawyer to sue on discrimination charges.

All I know about the situation is from the newspapers and the President's letter. It appears that both parties did some things incorrectly; I don't want to discuss that. I also don't want to discuss whether homosexuality is right or wrong. What I do want to present to you is a few quotes from the President's letter about the concept of discrimination.

The following quotes are from the President's letter (link to the whole):

When an individual steps outside this teaching (about traditional marriage) and publicly announces that he/she is living a lifestyle in total opposition to what the Catholic Church and one of its universities hold dear, that decision represents a lifestyle choice that he/she is free to make. But if the person holds a position that represents the Catholic Church, there is conflict… For instance, if you wanted to be an officer of an environmental group that premised its mission on the reality of global warming, you would expect that your fellow members would hold you to advocating that doctrine and not give speeches claiming that the phenomenon is a chimera. If you came to believe differently, the responsible thing would be to leave the organization.
[When interviewing] I make a simple statement to the candidate, something to the effect: “XYZ is a Catholic and Benedictine university with a set of beliefs and traditions. No matter your religious background or affiliation, you are expected to respect and honor this tradition and set of beliefs. Can you accept that?”
If a person does not ascribe to the belief system held by the Church, a Catholic institution may not the be appropriate place for that individual to work. The blessing of America provides a patchwork of many kinds of institutions of higher learning. Where one’s belief system may put them outside the orbit of one institution, there is surely another to find a better fit.

So, what do you think? Did she face discrimination when she was fired? Or is it something else? Is the fault with her, either by misunderstanding or willfully breaking the assumptions of her employment? What are the rights of private -- especially private and religious -- institutions when it comes to social causes? What should they be?

PS: This is a complex situation -- just a loving reminder to choose your words carefully and politely! However, I would LOVE to hear views on all sides of this dilemma (Erika, this means you!)

A "Good Old Days" Kind of Day

2010-11-15T18:29:00.002-06:00

I got to live the "good old days" today. And well, it wasn't great, but we made it!

Our computers were down at work today. You would have thought the Tribulation was already upon us by the chaos that ensued. For those of you that don't know, I'm working as a bank teller. And as you can probably assume, the ENTIRE banking industry is run via the internet nowadays (what isn't?).

I arrived to one of my coworkers (who tends to be a little high-strung anyway) in full fledge panic: "You'll never guess what is wrong today! The computers are down! We have to do everything the old fashioned way!"

Now, I'm pretty comfortable with a calculator and a piece of paper, so I mildly replied, "Really?"

"REALLY! I don't think we'll make it!"

Her panic was unnecessary. And to be honest, although it was certainly not easy, I think our work turned out at least as well if not better than usual because we did have to be so much more careful. It took us longer to process things (since we were doing them by hand), but it was far from a catastrophy. Meticulous care while scribbling notes on literally 4-5 different pieces of paper leads to a balanced drawer at the end of the day. Not so much as an extra penny left our door; nor did we short anyone. And, we got to practice those rusty math skills!

I have a lot of respect for those bankers who came before me, with their dirty fingers and ledger books. And I'm encouraged to realize I DO still know how to do a whole lot more than hit buttons on a calculator (yay mental math). However, I think I'm going to leave the "good old days" behind -- at least at work. Hopefully the computers will be back up tomorrow!

14 Weeks

2010-11-14T13:42:00.003-06:00

I've been withholding from you. I hope you'll forgive me :)

I'm 14 weeks along! Second trimester, whoohoo! I woke up about a week and a half ago, and realized I wasn't already halfway to the bathroom to lose the rest of dinner. Then, I realized I could think again. THEN I went a whole day without taking a nap! (Tho, I did go to bed ridiculously early). It's kind of amazing.

It may not look like much, but that little bump is giving me a world of headache when it comes to getting dressed in the mornings. And I'm pretty sure I still look more like I hit up the Golden Corral buffet than pregnancy. But that's ok :) Soon it'll be undeniable. And since my mom hooked me up with a spare sewing machine (my regular one is looking like it will need some time consuming repairs) I should be able to start solving the clothing issues sooner rather than later.

I love this part of pregnancy. It almost (ALMOST) makes morning sickness worthwhile :)

When your (church) home doesn't feel like home

2010-11-08T20:20:00.003-06:00

We're really struggling with something here in Central Illinois. It's been building for a couple months, but it's really come to a head over the past two weeks: Our church has crossed a couple of lines and we're not ok with that. But the biggest question now is, what comes next?

We attend a large (huge? We're over 3,000 members) mainline denominational church led by two exremely faithful men of God. If it were just the pastors, we'd be thrilled and have no concerns. The problem comes from the board, and the way the board is driving the church. (The way our church is structured, the pastors only have so much control. They lead the preaching and the teaching, but other boards and committees deal with everything going on outside the sanctuary.) The biggest concerns are with the direction of the children's and youth programs -- something we've ignored until now, but no longer have that luxury with Blueberry joining us in May. This is the metaphorical "straw that broke the camel's back." We will not be long for this congregation.

This whole thing is tearing me to pieces. It's a constant radio station running in the background of my brain. What do we do? When do we do it? And how on earth do we go about finding another congregation? And overriding many of these other thoughts, how do I both support and submit to my husband as he leads us in this?

We want to stand for truth in the place that we are; we want to honor our membership commitment; we want to honor the relationships we've spent the past 2.5 years building. But we also want authentic worship and the right, Biblical, truth-filled home for us to raise our family in. I don't know where to find that.

So, I have a couple questions for you lovely ladies who are infinately wiser and more experienced in these things than I am: Have you experienced a situation like this? Did it turn out ok in the end? And, how did you learn the balancing act between supporting your husband and being helpful, and submitting to his leadership? I'm really in the dark and would appreciate any insight you've gathered along the way.

2010-11-02T18:22:00.002-05:00

I've been struggling with writing inspiration lately. I could tell you all about our new house... but it's in a state of "in-progress" and there's nothing worth showing. I could tell you about projects I've done... except I haven't done any. I could tell you about my pregnancy, but it's uneventful and peaceful so far (well, as much as the 1st trimester can be expected to be!). Work is just work. Politics is too depressing to discuss. My intensive Bible Study on Isaiah is so wonderful, but it takes every minute I can find to just finish it before our Wednesday meetings, much less take extra time to write about it. So, life goes on, and I keep waiting for some brilliant inspiration to hit.

Speaking of my Bible study -- it's wonderful, interdenominational, and global. There's probably one near you. The day classes include a children's program for pre-schoolers; the night classes have a program for school aged kiddos up to 17. We're studying Isaiah this year. There's actually 8 years of curriculum -- last year was the Gospel of John, next year is Acts of the Apostles. Women's groups meet day or evening, mens only meet at night (the assumption is most guys work). AND they're trying to start a new men's class in PEORIA, IL in January 2011. This study has really impacted my life since I joined in February and I can't speak enough on how it pushes you to dig deeper and deeper into the actual word of God -- not some book written by some modern author. Check it out: Bible Study Fellowship

The Promised Children

2010-10-27T14:58:00.003-05:00

I haven't talked much yet about my intensive bible study since it started up in early September. This year we're studying Isaiah. I have always been confused and afraid by Isaiah -- my common response when flipping it open and reading a passage has been, "What IS he talking about?" It's such a blessing to open the Word with other people to sort through the maze together.

We're 6 weeks in and only up to Isaiah 9 so far. But oh my! How filled those 9 chapters are! Woes and punishment, an angry God and a mission that would bear no fruit... and hidden amongst the negativity, 4 very special promised children.

Most people know that Christ was prophesied about in Isaiah, but they've only heard the selected passages read during Advent. It's absolutely amazing to see, even in just these nine small chapters, how much actually points to Christ. It's so much more than what you've heard. But first, the other 3:

The first promised child was actually already born when we meet him in Isaiah 7. He's Isaiah's son, Shear-Jashub. His special name means "A remant will return." His name was a promise and a prophetic message to the people of Judah.

The second is one that many people miss. In Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah prophesies a sign from God: "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." This is one of those Christmas verses most people have heard once or twice (a year... every year). What most people DON'T realize is the context: This is one of those common (and I'd never noticed before) Now-And-Later prophesies in the old testiment. You can tell the "now" from v. 16 -- "But before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste." This was fulfilled when the King of Assyria swept in a few years later. The "later" (Christ) is actually a little hidden, even though it's the one we're more familiar with. And, actually, I have a hard time seeing it myself, so feel free to refute me! I'm drawing this from several respected theologians and the study notes. According to them, the reference to Christ is in v. 13 when Isaiah addresses not King Ahaz (who he was previously speaking to), but the whole house of David. I never knew about the earlier child before, who was also called Immanuel, meaning God with us. I have some more research to do!

The third promised child was another of Isaiah's sons. This son was born in 8:1-4 and was named Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. That's a mouthful, isn't it! I must say, that one didn't make the list for our Little Somebody. His name means "Quick to plunder, swift to spoil." Verse 4 tells us what this means: "Before the boy knows how to say 'My father' or 'My mother,' the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria." Destruction against Judah's enemies will come quickly, even though in chapter 7 (and child #2) we find out that Judah will be overrun (But! According to child #1, a remnant will remain!).

Oh! And the long-awaited fourth child! I bet you can guess who this is!

6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor,Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

7 Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David's throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.

Four promised children. Four prophetic names, rich with meaning and understanding. And four reasons to hope, even in the midst of Isaiah's messyness. I just had to share!

God bless you on this Wednesday!

Maternity Clothes Woes

2010-10-26T09:47:00.003-05:00

I don't know what it is about my body, but I am showing REALLY early. I'm just past 11 weeks and already having to lay aside my regular work wardrobe. I hung out with my mom this weeked and she revealed that she went into maternity clothes full-time at 10 weeks. So I guess I've gotten a little past her! It's just ironic, because so far I've actually lost a good bit of weight (gotta love morning sickness... boo).

But with my changing figure and a lack of time, I've been busy shopping to keep myself covered. At least, I've been trying to...

What is UP with modern maternity clothing?! Everything I've found is either 1) ugly 2) expensive or 3) most often, both! I have zero interest in wearing skin tight leggings and ill-fitting tops, or even worse, ill fitting tops with writing on them:

Lest I come across as too grumbly, my lovely mother has purchased a couple dress lengths of jersey knit and is whipping me up a couple of work dresses. And eventually, I'll find my sewing machine in the chaos that is moving boxes, get it repaired, and sew for myself. In the mean time, I'm going to take a moment to be positive: Since I need a whole new wardrobe anyway, I'm replacing with more pretty skirts and dresses that I really like instead of the pants I keep finding myself slipping back into. And once I quit my job in the spring, no one will care if a robe counts as "dressed" for the day!

Wish me luck. Hopefully I'm in the last throws of morning sickness and I can start gaining back the 8lbs I've lost, getting on the right track for the long term. Tho, I will miss the easy excuse for my 4th nap today :)

Neat Website

2010-10-21T22:20:00.002-05:00

I stumbled across this site at work today and just had to share with you:

Project Gutenberg

It's an online database of books, posted in various formats from simple text to the fancy e-readers. They're all free -- the concept of Project Gutenberg is to put every book in the public domain online so that they're free and available forever. It started in 1971 with the US constitution and has expanded continuously from there :) Best part is that since the copyrights are expired, you can print, copy... essentially do whatever you want with the texts.

I know I'm a bookworm, and many of you are too, so I thought you'd like to know!

PS: Still pregnant, still morning sick, still holding on :). 11 weeks down, 29 to go. And a rant in process over the pathetic state of maternity clothes for those of us whose sewing machines are broken.

I forgot to tell you...

2010-10-15T20:56:00.002-05:00

In the midst of everything else, I forgot to tell you how our initial appointment with our OB went!

It's routine at the practice I go to to do early ultrasounds, mostly to correctly date the pregnancy. For me, this has extra significance: I needed to know that Baby was, and is, ok. I have faith in God of course, but I was having so much anxiety about the what-might-bes that when the ultrasound was offered, I definately accepted. I needed that reassurance.

Reassured I was!

Our happy little baby was bouncing all around during the whole procedure. You wouldn't think a 9 1/2 week old could get around much, but this little one was. The tech had to do the measurements a couple times because Baby wouldn't stay still. Then, right at the very end, Baby started waving his/her little arms. It was everything I needed and then some to feel safe, confident, and loved. Everything is going to be ok -- no matter what. It was such a blessing.

Just thought you'd like to know!

Wallpaper Woes

2010-10-13T11:40:00.003-05:00

I slipped off the blog-wagon again -- but I have an excuse!

Friday morning we closed on our house. It's beautiful. It's perfect! At least, it will be once the many-decades-old-and-ugly wallpaper comes down. Personally, I'm leaning towards a ban on wallpaper. It should be illegal, or you should be required by law to remove it before selling your home. Why? WHY?! Because it is such a long, exhausting, PAIN!

Although my camera is at the other house, let me paint you a word-picture:

In the bedroom... blue wallpaper in a quilt pattern with wood panelling half way up, and a chair rail. We pulled off the pannelling to find ORIGINAL (1930s) pink wallpaper that kind of looks like brown paper bags painted over with dusty rose. Current stripping time: over 15 hours, with probably 2 or 3 still to go

In the dining room and hallway... red, white, and black floral print that was so small and painful that my camera didn't know what to do with it. It turned the flowers into dizzying lines. There was panelling in there, too, which was hiding tan... um... I don't even have words. It's tan, with vertical lines, and little gold foil bits that kind of look like worms. Stripping time: not yet started, and I'm dreading the day.

I'm saving pieces for my scrap book.

It's a lot of work (a LOT), but I'm so excited to be getting my nest ready for our growing family. There's so much to do and only 30 weeks to accomplish it in! I've already picked the colors fomr the living room and our bedroom. I've got some good thoughts on the dining room. And I have NO idea what I'm going to do with the nursery. Change that a little... I have far too many ideas, but I can only use one. Narrowing it down is going to be a challenge. I think I'm going to put that off for a few more months :)

Happy Wednesday!

Flu Shots?

2010-10-07T13:27:00.002-05:00

Hi Ladies!

I wanted to ask you all something: Have you gotten or do you plan to get a flu shot this year?

I'm debating. Technically, according to "people who know," pregnant ladies (like myself!) are supposed to get the shot. However, I have real hesitations with unnecessary medications, and I think shots for common things are kinda silly. My dr. is leaving it entirely up to me and I'm at a loss!

What do you think?

Multitude Monday

2010-10-04T09:00:00.001-05:00

It's been a while since I've had an opportunity to participate in the Multitude Monday. Not that I haven't had things to be grateful for -- we certainly have! -- but I always seem to busy to write them. Today, finally, I have one blessing that I've been waiting nearly forever to share with you:

#56: The gift of new life...

We're having a baby!

I'm 9 weeks along and feeling... well... I'm 9 weeks along :). We're due in early May.

We decided to delay starting prenatal treatment this time because there's nothing doctors can do in the first few weeks anyway. "Stop drinking." "Stop smoking." Things I don't need to hear anyway. It's all up to God -- all the way through. My practitioner (insurance-selected...) recommends starting treatment at 6 weeks or as soon as you find out... we convinced her to delay until 10. Not a huge bump, but significant to us. So, on Columbus day, we'll go in to see and hopefully hear our little explorer and how he/she is growing and finding the way to us. One more week! God willing, everything's normal and we're on the right track.

Happy Monday, and may you be blessed!

News!

2010-09-21T08:47:00.003-05:00

I was going to hold back on this until October, but I'm bubbling over! I just can't hold back anymore, I'm so excited!

In 17 days, for the first time in our lives, Shaune and I will become HOMEOWNERS!

We got our mortgage approval last night. The inspections are completed and everything's fine -- the few cosmetic issues, my hubby knows how to fix. Of course, the bathroom could use renovation, as any older home would, if anyone feels like a Fix-It and wants to help! Now we just have to pack and wait for closing.

There's hardwood floors thoroughout (except the kitchen, with laminate)... and these built-in bookcases in the living room are to die for. My house looks like a library. That's a good thing, because I already have so many books, and my wish list is even longer!

The kitchen was renovated just a couple of years ago. I love how the cabinets go all the way up to the 10' ceilings. There's even a built-in desk in the kitchen with more bookshelves -- can anyone say, Cookbook Collection?! The only thing that's missing is a dishwasher. I've gotten a little spoiled (alright, entirely spoiled) by having one where we've lived in the past. But, there is a place for one and running a hook-up wouldn't be too challenging, come spring. I've just got to make friends with handwashing between now and then.

There's so much more I didn't get pictures of. There's a full basement, unfinished, with some brilliant storage solutions already built in. 2 big bedrooms with giant closets. The foundation is all brick and in great shape. Considering it's in-town, the lot's a good size, and the beautiful community park is a half mile up the road. Within walking distance, there's multiple convenience stores and restaurants, a Wal-greens 24hr pharmacy, and an Urgent Care center (non-emergency medical facility run by the local hospitals) that's in our insurance network.

I still wish we had found property outside of town where we could begin a small homestead, but alas, now isn't the time. This is our perfect starter home. Can't wait for October 8!

What is this world coming to?

2010-09-20T10:22:00.003-05:00

Just a quick note to post something that I wish you would join me in prayer over:

Evangelical Lutheran Church ordains 3 openly homosexual women

Whatever your opinion on homosexuality is in terms of people, just people, living lives out in the world, this is different. This is a church proclaiming to be evangelical... proclaiming to stand for and teach the word of God... disregarding it. Cherrypicking the love and grace, while ignoring the sin and justice. The Bible is a whole package and can't be broken down.

Just to shed a little light on my own beliefs, I believe that humans should be treated fairly under the governmental law, regardless of their religion or sexual orientation. No one, under the American constitution, should be in fear of bodily or economic harm based upon their beliefs. But that's the government. This is the church... as a private institution, their first call is to the Lord. The church has voluntary membership, voluntary leadership. The church has the right and responsibility to stand firm to their values -- the Bible, the Word of God. Or, stop pretending you value them.

2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear

I'm Still Here

2010-09-09T06:43:00.002-05:00

I have some big news, but I don't want to jinx it :) I'm still here, just overwhelmingly busy with the joy that is my life. Hopefully by this time next week I'll be at liberty to spill all the beans to the world!

I'm still reading all your lovely blogs, even tho I haven't been writing much here or commenting much on yours. You're still all such a blessing to me and I'll be back in business very shortly -- 1st of October at the very latest.

God Bless!
Jenny

Doing Hard Things

2010-09-01T19:57:00.000-05:00

Last spring, I was approached by the leader of the large Bible study class that I attend. Over 200 of us meet together every week for worship, small group study, and teaching. For small group time, those 200 ladies are broken down into groups of 10-12 lead by a leader who is also responsible for shepherding them during the week. And as of... now... one of those leaders is me.

I got my group assignment last week and it took my breath away. Although I met with, and prayed with, the assignment team several times last spring, and have continued to pray/worry about it over the summer, I wasn't prepared once the envelope actually arrived. God's definately pushed me out of my comfort zone on this one.

You see, I've always been aware that I'm young for the groups I'm involved in. I married young (by today's standards at least), gave up on teen ministry and joined the adults when I was young, have friends with kids my age. I teach at my evening Bible study regularly, despite being years younger than the other members. But I've never been *responsible* for leading them before. In the group I've been assigned, the next youngest person is 16 years older than me. The oldest is literally 3 times my age.

God's good at stuff like this. He has a better grasp on the situation than I ever could. One thing I've learned very firmly this year is that I have NO real control. I may PRETEND I do sometimes... but it's an illusion. So while this isn't the group I would have chosen for myself (I was hoping for the young marrieds/moms group), this is exactly the group He wants me to have.

This is a big "hard thing" for me. I hate phone calls anyway. I hate calling strangers even more. Strangers many times my age, who I want to respect me? I'm shuddering.

But alas, God has proven himself, once again, to be good. I've reached half my group and most of them seem very excited to get started. The rest? They'll come around. Or leave. Or whatever it is that God wants to teach both of us.

The best thing I've found about doing hard things is that I can't do them. I can't -- it's beyond me. But God can -- and He will. This is another opportunity to revel in my own weakness because it is here, when I keep trying even without hope of success, that He can take over for me. Hard things teach me no my own abilities, but to rely on His strength.

What hard things do you have to do this week? I encourage you to give up early -- not to quit, but to quit trying to do it alone. It's a freeing experience.

2010-08-29T19:54:00.002-05:00

What to say?

I started my new job last Monday -- I've never been so excited or so terrified in my life. We spent all day Monday reading government policies, all Tuesday playing with Monopoly money... and Wednesday!

I think my heart stopped for a minute or two when the girl training me handed me $10,000 -- cash -- with a smile and a "Here!" Then my first deposit came in for a local business and the numbers went so high I can't even remember them. Working in a bank is going to take some getting used to.

The people I work with are all in my age range, give or take 3 years. Everyone's super nice and I'm looking forward to making new friends. Hopefully it'll lead to some good witnessing opportunities as well -- we spent a lot of our downtime talking about our lives and experiences. I already got to talk a little bit about our trip to Africa. Everyone is very real to themselves -- no fakeness, polite but not concerned about "political correctness." It's a nice change of pace to the school environment which was either straight PC or total lewdness with any middle-ground thoughts being completely ignored.

The only other thing that's new in Prestonland is we've found the house we want. I can't tell you details for fear of jinxing it! But if you're feeling generous, lift a prayer for us this week as we hopefully go into contract, escrow, down payments and inspections. I really want this home :)

New Beginnings

2010-08-25T09:17:00.004-05:00

I've always loved August. The sun rises a little later... sets a little earlier... evenings are a *tiny* bit cooler... the first "Fall Storm" (mmm... popcorn and novels, with the sound of rain beating the windows)... back to school shopping...

Wait a minute! I didn't have to do that this year, for the very very first time in literally 20 years -- 2 years of preschool, 1 kindergarten, 12 grade school, 5 college. I'm a nerd. I always waited all summer for school to start again. I begged my parents for workbooks and educational summer camps (our district only offered remedial summer school, not enrichment). The night before the first day was almost more exciting than Christmas, knowing my backpack was filled with crisp notebooks and freshly sharpened pencils, with a pretty new outfit waiting for the first morning's light. Once I hit college I took classes every summer.

I think I'm going through withdrawl. I actually got a little teary-eyed at the site of a bus yesterday morning.

But life at the Preston's is never boring. I started my first "grown up" job on Monday morning -- I'm officially a bank teller at a local bank here in town! Monday we read all about how to do the job, Tuesday we played with Monopoly money, and today! Today I actually get out of the back room and onto the teller counter with real customers and real money! It's almost as good as going back to school (but only almost). I do get the pretty new outfit laid out, even if the backpack is missing.

It's a strange transition, all the sudden feeling like an adult. Working 5 days a week (but only 30 hours), staying on top of the house, continuing my volunteer postions. About that -- I got my group assignment for the Bible study class where I volunteer. I'm a group leader this year. All of my ladies are in their 30s - 70s: I'm more than a decade younger than my youngest class member! I know it's God-ordained and He wouldn't set me up to fail, but the words of Nickie Gumbel are ringing in my ears: He explained that when HE thought he was ready for a certain appointment within the Church of England, GOD knew that he still had a long way to go. It was only when Nickie began to doubt his own abilities that God had room to work. I very much feel the same way.

Add to that our search for a new house, with all the "grown up" stuff that comes with that (can anyone say 'mortgage'?)... I'm going through a bit of a culture shock.

And all I can think of is Paul:

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect
in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so
that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in
weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when
I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

May God bless you all this August, no matter what paths you may be starting!

Trim Dilemma -- HELP!

2010-08-18T10:51:00.004-05:00

I've nearly completed the bodice on my sheer dress. It's turning out really pretty. This is probably the first project I've entirely draped, instead of drafted. I love drafting... draping is quite a change of pace. I haven't decided yet if I like it... it kind of makes me nervous to throw a piece of fabric up on my dress form, add a couple pins, and start cutting away. It's been working alright so far -- I brought the back up a little too far, but it'll be easily fixable with a waist band.

Now, my dilemma... I am scared to death of trim. If you haven't noticed, all of my gowns are fairly simple. No lace... maybe a pintuck here or there... no ruffles. I'm frightened of trimming things wrong, so I just never trim at all. That leaves a very unfinished sort of look -- especially on this glamourous sheer gown! SO! I need your opinion!

This is the original:

I think I've already decided the elbow flounces are too much for me. Too out of my comfort zone. But I definately want to do that band around the yoke -- there's a matching one at about mid-calf on the skirt, too, which I'd love to include. Here's where I need your opinion. Lace trim? Or self-fabric flounces?

The trim has the benefit of being finished and just needing stitched on -- a valid concernt 2 days before the event. And the blue ribbon running through it matches PERFECTLY. However, it's polyester, and more attention getting. A self-fabric flounce matches with the original better... and requires much more work. I couldn't find a tiny edging lace like the original uses when I was at the store yesterday, so I'd have to hem. But it may be worth it... I'm at a total loss and am going to put the bodice aside until I get some feedback! The agony of wanting to be right!

So, PLEASE! Which do you prefer? Fabric, or lace?!

Adventures in Preston-Land

2010-08-17T08:28:00.003-05:00

We're doing something this week that I NEVER in a MILLION YEARS thought we'd be doing -- at least, not yet. I thought you had to be at least 30... and rich... or something, before anyone would even take you seriously. But NO! Even humble little us has a chance at this. Guessed what it is yet?

We're house hunting!

Looking at important things, like where the dryer vents.

I'm a numbers girl. I've always loved math. As a grown-up, I don't get to do nearly as much math as I did when I was in school. Sometimes, I come up with math projects for me to do just for entertainment value (I'm broken and have come to terms with this...). Well, earlier this month I did a cost-benefit analysis of renting vs. owning the place that we live. You know what I found? We can save over $100 a month by purchasing a home with the exact same floor plan we're living in now! And, I can paint! And, we can do whatever we want to the yard. And, and, and! I'm almost beside myself with excitement.

We've toured 6 homes so far. One was a real gem and we were about to put money on it, but then noticed some issues we weren't comfortable with having to refinish right away (**shudder** mold...). There's another list of 3 or so we'll be seeing tomorrow evening. The photographs look really promising and I can't wait to get in there!

Blogging may be scarce over the next few weeks as we pursue this adventure. I also start my new job as a bank teller first thing Monday morning. But never fear, I'll pop in for some excitement as able!

Sheer Dress

2010-08-12T13:57:00.003-05:00

I'm at it again: Dress #2 for Civil War reenacting! This time, I'm making a sheer... since it is August and so steamy hot. This is what I plan on remaking:

It's an original found on http://www.thegracefullady.com, in the sheer dress section. It's so, slo lovely. I'm using a pretty blue floral print dear Sarah Jane from Romantic History passed on to me. It may not show off quite as nicely as the polka dots, but I can't resist the pretty yoked look! It seems nice and cool for the summer, too. Now... *sigh* all I have to do is get started. I've GOT to stop procrastinating!

Making Summer Last

2010-08-12T11:15:00.002-05:00

Summer is my favorite time of year. I need sunshine... I need warmth... I absolutely need fresh veggies growing right outside my door! Alas, this wonderful, beautiful season can't last. Even if I can't keep the sunshine and the warmth, I CAN keep the veggies -- at least in some form!

I took a few days off of the garden this week. We were traveling (surprise! When are we not?) to go send my sister off to college, in addition to all our normal busyness. Well, even though I was on break, the garden clearly was not. I went out this morning to find a frightening amount of food that needed picked now. Until today, we've had a handful here, a basket there... just enough to throw into that particular day's meals. Not so anymore.

The dehydrator is running with 3 yellow squash and a couple (ridiculously massive) zuccini. Whenever I tell people I dry zuccini, they say, "I didn't know you could do that." I'm not sure if you're supposed to... but I did it last year and am doing it again. Zuccini chips are yummy on their own with a bit of ranch dip, and they're super easy to throw into a soup at the last minute. In fact, the plan for these ones is to make dried soup mixes for my sister -- she's moving out of the dorms and into her first apartment this week!

Green beans are getting blanched then frozen. I thought about canning them since my freezer space is at such a premium, but there are 2 very good reasons not to do that:

I don't have a pressure canner, so it wouldn't be safe (according to various sources that may be overly cautious)
I HATE canned green beans. Too mushy.

So freezing is the only option! I had a good 1/2 gallon freezer bag full and there will be many, many more in the coming days. I was afraid a few days ago because my neighbor had already put up pounds and pounds of beans. He's already ripped his plants out and replanted that area while I'd only brought in a few small, sad handfuls. Mine were just a couple days behind, it seems! I worried too soon.

I'm still waiting on tomatoes. They're being pokey. Maybe next week :)

PS: Yes, that is my teapot there, matching the green beans. I don't think I could survive without tea.

Hot Pepper Jelly

2010-08-11T11:00:00.004-05:00

What's a girl to do when the jalapano bushes are overwhelming me, and the tomatoes are just starting to hint at red? Salsa isn't an option until the tomatoes come in... there's already several jars of peppers put up... every square inch of the freezer is dedicated to something else...

Hot. Pepper. Jelly.

I saw this recipe in one of my cookbooks and went "ew." I saw it again in a different cookbook at the library and became curious. THEN I saw it on the back of the pectin box when I went to the store. With an abundance of peppers and a good sense of humor, I decided to try it. What's the harm?

It's WONDERFUL stuff, so you know. And attractive to boot. We've already eaten an entire jar (half-pint) with crackers and cream cheese. I fully intend on making more soon for my Christmas baskets.

Here's the recipe:

6 jalapanos, chopped. Remove seeds if heat is a problem. I removed about 1/2, left about 1/2.
1 cup white vinegar. The recipe called for CIDER vinegar but I didn't have any, and didn't miss it either.
3 cups sugar
1 packet liquid fruit pectin

Put the peppers in the blender with 1/2 c vinegar. Blend until smooth. You can see in the picture that I left mine kinda chunky for visuals -- do as you please.

Pour the pepper mixture into a pot and add the rest of the vinegar. Add the sugar. Boil for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. At this point, I added a few drops of green food coloring to brighten the color. The peppers make it a kinda pea-soup green and I wanted gemstones!

After 10 minutes, remove from heat. Stir in pectin. Return to heat and boil hard 1min. Fill and seal jars -- 1/4 in headspace, 10 min processing in a hot water canner. Makes about 3 cups of jelly.

Yum.

Back Online!

2010-08-09T11:05:00.002-05:00

I've learned an important lesson about antivirus software for my computer: in short, have it. Things were a jumbled mess, but blessedly we have friends who are good at stuff like that. I just had to wait until they were available to fix it!

But, I've been cleaned out, rebooted, loaded with protection, and am back online. I believe I have 35 blog posts I've missed reading since last week, plus countless Facebook thingies that I don't think I care enough to sort through. I never realized how addicted to the internet I was.

I'm glad I went computer-less for a few days. They were rough days... my husband checked my email for me at work and called to tell me what it said... but I also got a lot done. Like jars of hot pepper jelly. Vacuuming. Every piece of laundry in the house. More than one novel. I clearly see that it's time to set limits on my 'net use. We'll see how it all plays out.

*sigh* It just feels so good to type away again!

Forced Computer Fast

2010-08-04T13:26:00.002-05:00

Well, friends, it's finally happened: I've been tempting fate without an antivirus software on my computer for a few months... and yesterday one found me. I was faced with 2 painful options: pay $200 to have someone fix it, or wait until Monday when a friend of mine can do it for free. As anyone living on a budget knows, I don't need my computer $200 badly. I can wait.

So, God willing, it's a quick and easy fix once my friend gets ahold of my system. In the mean time, I'll sneak off to the library when I can, and catch you all next week!

Waiting with Grace

2010-08-02T14:50:00.003-05:00

My Dearly Beloved and I have been married for 2 years -- today! These have been two of the best years of my life, growing closer to each other and to God together. Every day is a new adventure. We've had so much joy, as well as sharing so much pain.

You see, we thought we'd have a child long before now. God willing, we'd be working on #2. But alas, that wasn't our Lord's plan -- I'm still not sure what his plan is. We're waiting.

Waiting hasn't been good for my heart. I'm an impatient person by nature, wanting things now, now, now! I tend to waste my time, because "what if!" this month is the lucky one. I hesitate to commit to anything, because "what if!" After a lot of prayer and conversation, we've decided that I should pursue a part-time job so that I can use our waiting time productively.

It's not a decision come to lightly, but it is the right one -- for our family, and for my heart. See, I've been beating myself up that what we wanted hasn't happened yet. Obviously, I'm doing something wrong (says that naggy little voice inside my head). I don't believe that is the case -- rather, for whatever reason, God has called us to wait. So wait we shall.

But in the mean time, I'll be busy paying down our debts, meeting new people, perhaps even pointing them towards faith. I'll be out in the world where I can make an impact, until my most important job of raising a family comes along (at which point I'll be making an impact with them!). Life is a journey that we can't control. Thankfully there is a God who does!

I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait

I will move ahead, bold and confident
Takeing every step in obedience
While I'm waiting
I will serve You
While I'm waiting
I will worship
While I'm waiting
I will not faint
I'll be running the race
Even while I wait

I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am peaceful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it's not easy
But faithfully, I will wait
Yes, I will wait

I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve you while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting on You, Lord

John Waller, While I'm Waiting, from the Fireproof soundtract, has been a constant comfort to me over the past weeks. I play this song on repeat because it reminds me of the Who who knows.

Murder-Mysetery Summer

2010-07-30T13:41:00.002-05:00

I'm such a bookworm, but over the past couple years I've been steadily disenchanted with reading. I had too much assigned through school to pick up much for pleasure. When I did find time to just read, so many of the books I found were disappointing: too racy and too easy, to difficult, too boring.

A dear friend of mine completely understands, so we bonded together in pursuit of worthwhile books that we would read together, then meet up to discuss (and watch every movie adaptation available!). The only rule is they have to be pleasure books -- we both do enough research reading in our "real" lives. First, we read Emma -- I love Jane Austen.

The next book was my friend's choosing. I'd never heard of it before... but it was altogether facinating. The book is "Rebecca," written by Daphne du Maurier in 1938. The back cover proclaims that it is "one of the bestselling novels of all time!" Once I got into it, I totally understood.

There's something about summer that makes you want a predictable book, but not boring. I've never read mysteries before -- I thought they were dumb cop-and-robber stories with no plot, or all science like many of the popular TV shows. But this was rich storytelling. I found myself thinking just ahead of the characters, trying to solve the riddle. It was predictable enough to follow while throwing enough twists to keep me interested. All wrapped up in well-developed dialoge and a pleasant lack of descriptive romance. I never would have suspected I liked this kind of book if my friend hadn't suggested it (and put the copy in my hand, saying "Read this, it'll take some getting into but you'll love it").

So my question to you: What kinds of books do you like to read? How do you choose a new book / series / genre to try out?

Bruchetta Pizza

2010-07-29T10:16:00.003-05:00

This is probably the best treat I've ever eaten. I couldn't help sharing it with you!

My first ripe tomatoes have been coming in this week in any real numbers -- I pull in 2-3 a day (there's more coming, I have no doubt). I've been doing what I can to be creative with them -- there's not really enough for a good tomato sauce, and just throwing them into things seems a little haphazard. I came across a recipe for bruchetta: an Italian appetizer of bread toasted in olive oil topped with chopped tomatoes and basil, a bit of feta cheese and a drizzle of olive oil (plus salt and pepper). I had a bit of the topping left over and was trying to figure out what to do with it.

Well, Shaune beat me to the topping (using it as a filling for omlettes), but I came up with an idea: Why not use it on a pizza? And it was fabulous... you could taste the lovely fresh tomatoes, but it wasn't "just" tomato. Oh my... we ate the whole thing! I wish I had gotten a good picture, but alas, you'll have to try it yourself :)

Bruchetta Pizza

Prepare your favorite pizza dough. Prebake it in the oven for about 15 minutes so it's nearly done
While that's cooking, coarsely chop 2 tomatoes. If you have it, chop fresh basil. I used dried because I failed to plant any this year :(. Gently stir together tomatoes and basil, plus a few tablespoons of feta cheese -- just enough for contrast. Drizzle with olive oil and crack on some fresh ground pepper. Taste it -- if you need to, add a bit of salt. Sea salt is best. Set bowl in fridge until pizza crust is ready
Totally optional (but adds extra nutrients): thinly slice a small zuccini into "coins"
Once crust is baked, you get to build your pizza! Drizzle crust with olive oil (I like to take a paper towel and "paint" it all over). Sprinkle a bit of mozzarella cheese. Scatter the zuccini, if you're using it. Top with the tomato mix and a bit more cheese if you'd like -- I made it fairly not-cheesy, but whatever it takes to make your husband/kids eat it!
Bake for just a few minutes -- 8-10 -- just so all the flavors meld, things warm up, and the cheese thinks about melting. Slice and enjoy!

We're pizza fanatics here, eating it bare-minimum once a week. Pizza night is never known for its health value -- until now! Round out the meal with a salad, or add some cooked beans or chicken to the pizza itself. Yummm...

A Special Family Birthday

2010-07-27T08:18:00.002-05:00

This may seem silly to many of you, but I just had to share: My dear little car just hit 200,000 miles!

200,000 miles of:

Visiting family
Strengthening friendships
Working for the Lord
Learning new skills
Having fun
Shedding tears

This car has been mine since I got my license. It was my Dad's for 5 years before that -- I've traveled all over the eastern USA as either driver or passenger. It's silly, but very significant to me!

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Thai Chicken

2010-07-22T21:27:00.002-05:00

I've been holding this post back, in the hopes of taking a picture of this tasty treat. Lo and behold, we ate it again for lunch today, and AGAIN it all disappeared long before any thoughts of the camera crossed my mind. You'll have to take my word on it -- it looks just as yummy as it sounds :)

The best thing about Thai Chicken is it is ridiculously, 8pm and haven't eaten yet, easy. 4 ingregients. Think you can handle that?

Chicken
Peanuts, unsalted (Aldi sells them with the red lid. Blue lids are salty)
Jalapano, diced. Start with 1, build up from there if you like the flavor. I used 3 today
Soy Sauce

I precook a whole chicken early in the week and portion it out, so all I have to do is thaw a package. 5 minute meal. My dear friend Amanda, who shared this recipe with me, uses raw boneless, skinless chicken. If so, chop it up into bite-sized pieces and saute it in a little oil first.

Once your chicken is cooked or thawed, throw in the diced jalapanos. Cook until bright green, only a minute or so. Throw in the peanuts. You may want to crush them a bit; I do sometimes and don't other times. Cook for a minute or so. Pour over enough soy sauce to make everything brown and wet looking. It'll only take a few tablespoons, but I never measure so I can't tell you for sure how much to use. Start with a little -- you can always add more, but you can't take any away!

We serve this layered into a bowl. The bottom layer is plain white rice. The middle layer is a veggie -- the best is the tiny frozen green beans, lightly steamed, from Aldi. I was out of those today so I used peas. I've also used steamed asparagus, chopped small. Scoop some chicken on the top, grab the chopsticks, and enjoy!

I love easy meals that taste like a million bucks :)

An Education

2010-07-20T10:00:00.001-05:00

A couple times a year, my 10 year old brother comes to stay with Shaune and myself. It's a special time for all of us. Matty gets to have different rules, different house, different EVERYTHING! We get to play parents -- all the fun, none of the suffering :) I am still the cool big sister, after all. It's always a good time. We watch movies and play games. And, Shaune and I have a chance to share our values with him. There's a subtle vein of education running through most things we do.

For example, we don't have cable television and the Internet in our apartment is pretty iffy. So when he's with us, Matt learns the value of being bored. It leads to all sorts of fun -- gardening, board games, even fishing. Plus the joy in learning how to just be quiet, without outside stimulation.

He also learns how to get his hands dirty. I'm not sure where he learned this, but he hates touching pretty much anything. Shaune and I had fun with this. When Matty caught a fish (his very first ever!) Shaune wouldn't take it off the hook for him. Shaune coached, and guided, and even provided a glove! but declared that if Matt wanted to catch fish, he had to do the whole job. We had lots of laughs over that one. Then later, we were making personal pan pizzas. Matty didn't like how squishy the dough was... so we buried his hands in it :). It's all in good fun, but it's also an important thing to learn. How are you going to get through life if you won't touch anything yucky?

We taught him about movies that actually have a plot, and no explosions. We taught him how to find the tip quickly at a restaurant. We even took him to a museum to practice thinking critically about the claims that "scientists" (or biased exhibit designers) make. But most importantly, we taught him once again that we love him and we're here for him, and he can always ask us questions and receive an honest answer (even the ones that are hard to ask parents). We teach him life. These are the weekends that make life worth living.

First M.E. Church

2010-07-19T12:53:00.003-05:00

There's a beautiful new stained glass window installed at our church. It used to be in the old building downtown -- they moved it into a frame and stored it when that building was sold. They've just now pulled it out and hung it.

The stained glass was made back when our church was the First Methodist Episcopal Church -- a denomination that no longer exists on its own but is a part of the United Methodist Church. "Methodist Episcopal" has too many letters for a stained glass worker... they shortened it to M.E.

First M.E. Church. Every time I see the window, I get a knot in the pit of my stomach. It's beautiful, yes, and the intended meaning is innocent enough. But every time my critical eyes view it... I see a commentary on the culture of our church... and the vast majority of other churches I've visited.

First, me. I'll pray, but first me. I'll worship, but first me. I'll serve, but first... me. My needs, my wants, my preferences take higher priority than serving the Lord. I'll join the Bible School committee, but only if we do it my way. Does this ring true for your churches? Not everyone, all the time... but some of the people at least some of the time. First, me.

Lest we be too harsh on the modern church, the "me first" mindset has been a problem since the very beginning:

Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give
to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." When
the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. Matthew
19:21-22

The young man was focused on his wealth, his comfort, his earthly security blanket. He was saying, "First me."

He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."
Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family."
Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." Luke 9:59-62

These situations seem good -- caring for family -- but Jesus declares them both to be unfit. These men, too, said "First me." I'll follow you after I do the things that I want to do. Even good things can be bad if we lift them to a higher position than following Christ.

Jesus never said that following him would be easy. In fact, he said the exact opposite: "If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you." John 16:19. We are to be hated, despised, persecuted. Even if that person hating you is your own family (Luke 8:19-21).

So who's first in your heart? Yourself? Or Christ? Although I still struggle with this every single day, I'm glad there's a window at my church reminding me that I don't want to be a part of the "First Me" church culture.

Garden Mystery -- Solved!

2010-07-15T19:13:00.002-05:00

So I posted a few days ago about a mystery in my garden: the two jalapano plants were producing very different peppers. I think I just figured out what happened.

One plant cross pollinated with the bell pepper plant right next to it!

The jalapano didn't change much in flavor, just in appearance. The bell peppers -- which I pulled the first from tonight for a pizza -- didn't fare so well. They look like bells... smell like jalapanos... and taste somewhere in between. They have some kick, let me tell you!

So, note to self, next year the pepper varieties need to be located a little bit further apart. Or else I can leave them close together -- mysteries are kind of fun!