Be Productive!

Weeks 33 - 35 of my Pregnancy with "Hoover"

2011-03-31T16:00:00.000-05:00

Week 33 started on Jan 15th, 2010 and was our second week of class which included signs of labor, coping with pain, breathing, transition. Micah's arsenal of "great stories" has been added to greatly from just this one night of class!

The pictures are from Week 34 which started on Jan 22nd. Nothing too exciting, just our 3rd week of birth class including the second stage of labor, and pushing.

Week 35 was a bit more exciting. It started on Jan 29th, and included Ground Hog Day. I had a women's meeting at the church the night of Ground Hog Day, and Micah had an elders meeting. I was feeling particularly motivated so I decided to make everyone treats to celebrate the holiday -- Cupcakes decorated as ground hogs!

I wish I had remembered to get "after" pictures!

You might be thinking you don't really want to see an "after" picture of snacks I brought. But, don't worry, I'm not talking partially digested ground hogs.

I was taking the cupcakes inside, and I tripped on the sidewalk and slammed my huge belly on the ground, and the cupcakes went flying!

The cupcakes looked like road kill! :) They were kind of fun to eat, though.

This was my second fall with baby "Hoover" and I did a lot of resting up and monitoring of symptoms the next few days.

Pizza Anyone?

2011-03-26T16:00:00.000-05:00

I got this link from Money Saving Mom originally, but the source is Ten Things Farm.

It is a pizza, made of felt, used to teach counting.

I don't know if I'll ever actually make it and use it. Who knows if my idea of fun (is this just the accountant coming out in me?!) will be Myrick's idea of fun, but I love this idea!!

http://tenthingsfarm.blogspot.com/2011/02/you-can-make-and-play-pizza-game.html

But, one thing I do know for sure: I'm going to save this link in my "Ideas for homeschooling, if the Lord calls me to home school some day" folder.

Hope you all are having a great weekend!

Continuing On...

2011-03-21T14:00:00.001-05:00

Here is (finally!) the rest of my numbered list of (not quite) 50 cooking firsts I attempted to do last year:

16.) I don't have the dates for most of the rest of these, but I also made tuna salad for the first time this year.

17.) Pumpkin Butter (12/30)

18.) Pumpkin Soup. Micah liked this, but I would not suggest it.

19.) Roasted Pumpkin Seeds (Noticing a theme? We had a LOT of pie pumpkins to use up!)

20.) I cooked with cabbage on a couple different occasions.

21.) I tried to make my mom's potato salad recipe, but it turned out pretty mushy. It was yummy, though!

22.) I made my own cream soup.

23 - 25.) Aussie Chicken was a first for lots of reasons, so I'm counting it as three, because I can! I've never made a recipe where you were required to brown the chicken in a skillet before baking it. For some reason, that always seemed so intimidating to me, so I'd find a new recipe.

It was also a first because I'd never used a meat mallet (is that even what they're called?) to flatten out the chicken breasts.

And, believe it or not, I'd never cooked bacon before. Though, cooking it in the oven was a lot easier than I thought it would be. This recipe is definitely a keeper!

26.) Homemade Chex mix with my mommy. (12/14)

Wow! I thought for sure once I listed this all out I would have more things. I'm pretty sure it was last year that I learned how to cook a turkey also, so that will be #27.

Some things I still hope to get to eventually:
Ricotta Tomatoes
baked oatmeal
quick bread
cheese cake
pie
sweet and sour chicken
gravy
Sherried Tomato Soup
crazy cake
cook an entire artichoke (as an appetizer, the way they do at The Cheesecake Factory).
Apple Strudel
Velveeta Fudge (or just plain fudge)
Artisan Bread

And lastly,

Peanut Butter Pie:

1 cup Peanut Butter
1 cup sugar
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese
1 large tub of cool whip
1 graham cracker crust

Mix together PB & softened cream cheese. Add sugar. Add 3/4 tub of the cool whip. Mix until smooth. Put into pie crust. Top with remaining cool whip. Chill.

So, with all of those things, I'm still only up to 41 things, and I haven't even made 14 of them. Oh well. I think it's been a pretty productive year regardless.

Have a great week!

Week 23 of the never ending pregnancy!

2011-03-16T15:00:00.002-05:00

Hehe...ok, ok. My baby is almost a year old and here I am STILL posting about the pregnancy. Maybe some day you'll get to see pictures of him, but I'm willing to bet all of my readers have met him in person long ago! :)

I have already posted through Week 32, but just recently I came across this post about Week 23 that I hadn't posted for some reason. Now that I think of it, I probably didn't post it because I was having a baby!!

Anyway, I don't wanna miss any of the details, so I thought I'd just post it now!

Hope everyone's having a good week!

-Magen

Week 23 started on November 6th.

Micah finally got to feel our baby move on Saturday morning, November 7th. He was really excited, and I was so happy that he finally got to experience what I'd been feeling for a while.

That weekend we attended a parenting conference. It was very encouraging to get some great godly advice and to see that other parents don't have everything figured out! Parenting will definitely be a learning experience. And, as much as I don't like it, will probably have to be a lot of trial and error as we figure out what works for our family.

The conference was a great time of fellowship, and we both left even more excited for our little one to arrive!

I spent most of the following week sick with a cough and unable to sleep most nights. It's not fun at all to be sick during pregnancy - I spent a lot of time researching what I could and couldn't take for all my aches and pains. I'm such a baby when it comes to pain! How on earth am I going to get through this delivery?!

Bring on Spring

2011-03-11T14:40:00.001-06:00

I am so eager to be in flip flops! I have been wanting to be outside taking walks for weeks now, but it seems like every time we hit a nice day I have a 100 other things going on. Then, on the days where I'm relatively free, it's icky!

And, running across this video the other day didn't help one bit:

Myrick loved it, and it got me itching for those flip flops again!

Come Spring, come!

Bead Board, Board and Batten, Wood Paneling -- oh my!

2011-03-06T15:00:00.001-06:00

I read a lot of blogs about decorating. (Well, in theory -- my Google Reader account is almost always above 200 at the minimum.)

And, one thing I've noticed about them is that people are CRAZY right now about beadboard:

(Decor Chick)

board and batten:

(Centsational Girl)

And, for lack of a better term, wood paneling:

(Emily A. Clark)

I have to admit, while I think all of these pictures are great, and the finish product turned out looking fabulous: I'm not a big fan.

I don't know if it's my laziness...

Actually, I do know it's my laziness. I like to convince myself that I'm not a fan of this that way I have a good excuse for never trying it in my home!

But, I was going to say, I don't know if it's my laziness, or if it's my fear that beadboard will someday go the way of dark wood paneling and become a home decor joke/annoyance for decades to come. (Though, I do imagine these decorating techniques will be easier to remove when they've worn out their desirability.)

So, all off this to ask: What do you think? Have you done one of these projects in you home? Would you like to? Or, are you lazy and/or fearful like me?

Cooking Adventures

2011-03-01T13:45:00.000-06:00

Back in December, I started telling you about how my 50 cooking firsts for last year went, but the post was getting too long, and I didn't finish.

So, here's the story behind #15, as promised:

15.) I made a peach cobbler (9/22) with real peaches for my dad. It took me 2.5 hours, and my kitchen was a disaster, but I did it. I even learned how to peel a peach, which I didn't even know was an issue before making this. Who would have thought you needed boiling water?!

Then, get this: the cobbler had not even been in the oven for 5 minutes yet when my mom calls. She had a few things to tell me, then asked me what I was doing, so I told her about how I was cleaning up my wreck of a kitchen. And, guess what she tells me? Dad was out of town for the rest of the week! He would not be here to enjoy the fruit of my labor!

So, I also learned that you can freeze peach cobbler. ;-)

I'm looking forward to the farmer's market starting up again in the not-so-distant future so I can try my hand at this again.

DealPulp

2011-02-04T12:52:00.005-06:00

If you haven't tried DealPulp, now is the day to!

DealPulp is like Groupon in that there is one deal a day. However, their deals are on national vendors and when you buy one of their deals, they give you a coupon code to use for online purchases.

Today's deal is a $10 credit for their own site for only $1. So, for a buck you can sit on a $10 credit for as long as it takes you to find a deal that is useful to you. The credit doesn't expire.

Some of the deals that they've had in the past include:
$8 for a $25 purchase at LetsGoGreen.biz
$7 for a $10 purchase at Target.com
$6 for a box of clothes from ThredUp.com

I hope you're able to find something you like!!

*Note: DealPulp has a different incentive program for sharing their deals. Instead of a $10 credit for signing up, you get 25% of all sales that you refer with your referral link (this is mine) once your total reaches $50 or more.

Update on 50 cooking firsts

2010-12-17T14:00:00.002-06:00

I believe the last time I updated everyone on my New Year's resolution (to do 50 things while cooking that I've never done before) was back in February!

At that point, I had completed guacamole (it seems like so long ago now!), cinnamon rolls, bleu cheese dip, cake balls, brisket and mashed potatoes.

Just in case you're counting, that's only 6 items!

but, have no fear, I have been cooking, I just haven't been blogging updates.

So, here are some of the other things I've gotten done since February:

7.) Orange Chicken (on 3/17) which was my first attempt at deep fat frying anything.

8.) Broccoli Peanut Chicken with Noodles (4/22). Has a very creative name, don't you think? :) I used the "non-healthified" version of that recipe. The first on this one was zesting. I had to go to the store to buy a zester, cause I've never done it before!

9.) I'd also never cooked rice noodles.

10.) Peanut Sauce (4/22) to go with the Broccoli Peanut Chicken above. I made my friend Shawna's recipe instead of buying the peanut sauce in the bottle. Aren't you proud of me?!

PEANUT DIPPING SAUCE
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons vinegar
1/2 teaspoon minced ginger
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon chili sauce (Sirachas, or I used Franks)
1/2 teaspoon oil
1 tablespoon brown sugar

11.) Grilled asparagus (5/2)

12.) I snapped my own green beans (from the farmer's market). (8/4)

13.) Learned how to cut a pineapple (8/23) using none other than howtocutapineapple.com.

14.) Cut a cantelope (9/2) I know, I know! But, I'd never done it before. And, as lame as it is, it was a first!

This post is already getting too long, and for #15 I have pictures and a story, so I think I'll save it for another post. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Week 32

2010-11-24T14:00:00.004-06:00

Week 32 of my pregnancy started on January 8th.

This was the week that we started our birthing class at the birth center where we were to have little Hoover.

This was also the week that my dad (Grandpa Tom) gave up the hope that I was having twins, but now believed I was having a boy, and that he was going to be a fabulous bowler.

Dad's logic:
- I had bowled the entire time I was pregnant with him.
- The majority of the time I was bowling, Hoover was "upside down and backwards" (in my womb).
- "How could he NOT be good after that?"

And, how was dad so certain Hoover was a boy? Well because, apparently, in his mind, I was supposed to be a boy. So, of course, I "owe him".

Let this be a lesson to you!

2010-10-04T08:30:00.000-05:00

Well, the last week of my pregnancy journal that I posted before our sweet "Hoover" was born was for Week 22 which would have been October 30th til November 5th of last year. (And what a year it has been!)

But, unfortunately, other than this picture of me on Week 24 (around November 13th), I don't have anything note worthy written down until week 32 when I have another picture!

It is fun to go back and look at all of my belly shots though. I like my hair cut in this picture, which just confirms my suspicions that I should once again get my hair cut short like that. I always enjoy it, but it takes some time to convince myself that I will.

I was at around Week 30 at Christmas time, and Week 31 at the New Year. During Christmas, there was quite a bit of snow, and power outages, so Micah and I spent a few nights at my parents house snowed in with them and my brother and his wife. It was fun to just hang around and play games and watch movies and such!

Then, near New Years one of my cousins came to visit with her husband and little son Logan. So, more eating, game playing and just sitting around chatting at my parents house. It was very enjoyable!

Well, that's all I have. I guess this post should stand as a lesson to me if I'm ever blessed with another pregnancy again -- that I need to write things down RIGHT THEN and not a year later.

But, I am pretty impressed that I could knock out 9 weeks of pregnancy in one post. So, I guess it's a double-edged sword! ;-)

Have a great week!

Cute or Creepy?

2010-09-29T08:00:00.000-05:00

I recently added the blogs I try to follow to my Google Reader so that I could "catch up", and I really like it!

One of the blogs that kind of got neglected with my old system is Young House Love. It's a cute home decor type blog, and I've really enjoyed getting to read it more lately.

Last week they had a post about ceramic animals, and it made me curious. Go over and take a look. Then tell me, do you think it's cute or creepy?

5 years

2010-09-27T17:00:00.000-05:00

I was looking through my blog post drafts and noticed I had a blog post entitled "5 years" where I was going to talk about how I'd been married to my love for 5 years now and how delightful it's been.

But, as some of you probably already know...I was in the middle of having our son Myrick ON our 5th anniversary.

I guess I'll forgo the traditional anniversary post this year, though I do think Micah is delightful!! But, seeing as how we're more than 6 months past it now, I'll just wait til our next one! :)

Also, Myrick is growing like a weed! I would like to start posting the rest of my pregnancy journal, the birth story, and updates on Myrick's growth on Monday's in the future. So, be looking for those.

But for now, you could catch yourself up on my pregnancy journal if you haven't yet read it or would like a refresher.
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Pregnancy Brain
Week 13
Week 14
Week 15
Week 16
Week 17
Week 18
Week 19
How to upset a pregnant lady
Week 20
Week 21
Week 22

Enjoy your week!

Mark 7:14-23

2010-09-25T17:00:00.001-05:00

Well, I haven't been successful in getting a recording of the sermon I missed a couple weeks ago that was also talking about the condition of your heart. But, I do know that the passage he covered was Mark 7:14-23, so I've been thinking on that for the last few days as I continue to look up the meanings of the words we studied last week in our Titus 2 study.

Here's the passage:

14 After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, "Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: 15 there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile a man. [16 If anyone has hears to hear, let him hear.]" 17 When he had left the crowd and entered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable. 18 And He said to them, "Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, 19 because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?" (Thus He declared all food clean.) 20 And He was saying, "That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceeds the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adultries, 22 deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. 23 All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man."

I don't know about you, but my heart is heavy after reading such a list. I tend to think I'm above such things. I don't steal. I don't commit adultery. I don't commit murder. But, what strikes me is that -- I AM capable of such things. It is included in the heart of man.

I think I once doubted that this was indeed true. That all humans are capable of all of these things. I would tend to write this off as just things that "bad" people do.

Then, I became a parent.

And, I know this won't come to a shock to any off you. It shouldn't have to me. But, my 6 month old is already showing signs of this sinful nature. Choosing to do that which he knows he shouldn't do.

We didn't teach him to do the "wrong" things. As verse 21 says, it came from within, out of the heart of men.

Then a few more thoughts came to mind. For instance, isn't that an excuse to go on doing whatever I feel like doing? It's in my nature. "May it never be!" Just like I hope that one day Myrick will choose the right course of action simply because it makes his parents happy, so I too should choose to do that which the Lord has instructed me, because He is much more worthy of obedience than any earthly parents.

I know that none of this is new to all the parents who read my blog. You're probably thinking, "yeah, been there, done that." But, it's both sobering and encouraging to me!

Encouraging because just like we will not leave Myrick to his own devises, God does not leave His children without direction.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Are you dishonoring His word?

2010-09-17T08:45:00.000-05:00

Continuing on in my study of Titus 2, I sat down this morning to read through the entire book of Titus for context.

But, just as it usually happens, I got caught up at the top of chapter 2, and didn't get much further.

It's a familiar passage:

3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, 4 so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands so that the word of God will not be dishonored.

My initial thought is always, "definitely -- I want to work hard at doing these things so that I don't dishonor the word of God."

This morning, as I was meditating on these words, I was able to think about it in a new way. Not, "I should do these things, so that..."

But instead:
It IS dishonoring to the word of God if I'm not loving my husband.
It IS dishonoring to the word of God if I'm not loving my child.
It IS dishonoring to the word of God if I'm not being sensible...

Ouch.

I know I fall far short of this. I say hurtful things to Micah. I do not take the time to just be with Myrick. I am not kind to the "rude" cashier in the drive-thru window.

My prayer for myself today (and for you dear ladies) is that I would live this passage out in my life. That I would live in such a way as to earnestly desire to NOT dishonor the word of my Lord. My Savior. The Christ who gave all, and who I desperately want to share with others. What better way to share Jesus with others than to do these things?

I hope you have an honoring weekend!

Titus 2 Study

2010-09-15T12:00:00.000-05:00

Last night was the first night of a Titus 2 study that I have joined led by one of my dear friends, Martha.

She is in her early 50's and has a real heart for discipling younger ladies. I am in my mid 20's with a nearly 6 month old son, and am certainly feeling the need to be discipled!

So, I am very much looking forward to this study.

The Bible study will be focused on the first few verses of Titus 2 and knowing how we as believing women can encourage and equip other women in Christ. (What does it mean to be reverent? Why not be a malicious gossip? Why are addictions harmful? What is "good"?)

I will probably share my thoughts here on my blog as time allows, but I have no delusions that I will be able to share everything. Today, I thought I would just start with sharing the notes I took for the initial study.

She titled the first discussion "What is the condition of your heart?" inspired by our pastor's sermon in Mark chapter 7 last week. I missed church last week because of a sick babe, so I haven't got a chance to listen to the sermon yet. I'll let you know when it is online.

She started by posing some questions about the condition of my heart:
Is it foolish or wise?
Deceitful or Sound (stable, fixed)?
Fearful or Understanding?
Proud or Contrite?
Backsliding or Perfect?
Double or Pure?
Froward or Upright?
Perverse or Clean?
Hard or Broken?

She then went on to discuss each of the words, how they're used in scipture, and what the words in the original languages mean. I have not yet had a chance to look into any of these verses on my own, or the meanings (and spellings!) of the Greek and Hebrew words. So, please don't take this as truth! I'm mearly recopying my notes in a much neater form for future reference. I plan on studying each of these words a bit closer as the weeks go on. If you'd like to too, I'd love to hear your input on what you've learned!

Foolish: Proverbs 22:15; Romans 1:21 invehleth = silliness, foolish foollis = bellows/wind bag
unwise, indiscreet, short sighted, irresponsible

Wise: Proverbs 10:8 (receive commands); Proverbs 9:10 listening, actively searching
eagerly receiving instruction from the Lord
Martha shared that she can tell when her heart is not where it should be, when she's
not walking with Him if she takes an offense when she is confronted by another believer.

Deceitful: Jeremiah 17:9 awkobe = fraudulent, deceitful, crooked decipere = to ensnare
untrustworthy, underhanded, dishonest

Sound: Proverbs 14:30; Proverbs 15:4; 1 Timothy 4:12
marpay = wholesome, healthy, strong, sturdy
Curative to its possessor and to others, rooted in truth, firm, cannot be over thrown
A sound mind will speak truth and do it an a way that others will know it's the truth

Fearful: 1 Thes. 1:17 (I think); Job 3:25; Joshua 7:5 mawsass = easily melted
mild anxiety ----> paralyzing terror
distressed, apprehensive, panicky, anxious, worried, easily intimidated
drawn away from the Lord due to a lack of faith

Understanding: Isaiah 35:3-4 Bean = to separate mentally
Based on an understanding of who God is; the understanding of Truth overcomes fear
Seek words of encouragement from scripture; see life from God's perspective
We all have a mind, a will and emotions.
We should train our mind to tell our emotions what the truth is.

Proud: Proverbs 21:4 rawkawb = broad; large; wide; at liberty
A proud person may seek God but gives equal credibility to his own thoughts and the
thoughts of others; puffed up; reserves the right to make final decisions instead
of relying on what God's word says to do.

Contrite: 1 Sam. 15:17-19 (I think); 1 Peter 5:5; John 3:30; Matthew 11:11
dawkaw = to collapse or shrink
sorrowful, regretful, penitent, remorseful, humble

Backsliding: Proverbs 14:14; Hab. 3:19; Proverbs 25:26
Finds no pleasure in seeking the Lord

Perfect: Psalm 101:2; 2 Chron. 16:9; 1 Peter 5:10

Double: Psalm 12:2; James 1:5-8 lawbab = to enclose with fat
vacillating, unstable

Pure: James 4:8; 2 Chron. 1:12; Psalm 24 or 29:3-4 (unsure); Matthew 5:8
Godly sincerity; a transparent manner of life

Froward: Proverbs 11:20; Proverbs 6:12-14
turns away from the right course to what is forbidden

Upright: Ecc 7:29

Perverse: Proverbs 12:8 crooked -- think of a cork screw; veer from what is good

Clean: Psalm 51:10; Psalm 15 morally pure

Hard: Heb 3:7-11; Failure to deal with destructive conditions in your life; to render stubborn.

Broken: Psalm 57:17; Psalm 34:18; this is not a little crack -- means to burst or to shatter
Discipline for spiritual growth; suffering for righteousness sake

That is the end of my notes. I will try to expand on them more this week as I have a chance to study, but no promises.

She left us with the question, "What do you need to do to change your heart to the correct state?" If your heart is hard, how do you allow it to be broken? If you are backsliding, how do you become perfect?

As a word picture, she told us to think of breaking up the fallow ground -- change must go deeper than just the surface.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Wednesday!

Joseph was righteous

2010-08-04T08:32:00.003-05:00

Matthew 1: 18-25 NASB

¹⁸Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.
²⁰But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
²¹"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."
²²Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
²³"BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD WITH US."²⁴And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife,
²⁵but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.

This morning I "woke up on the wrong side of the bed" and consequently, was very rude to my husband before he left for work. I put that phrase, "woke up on the wrong side of the bed," in quotations, as kind of a joke. It's normally used as a polite way to say someone's is grumpy. But, the truth is - I was down right sinful.

Then, after such a great start to my morning! ;-) I sit down to read my Bible before getting in the shower, and I read the passage that I've quoted up top.

Joseph, in this situation with Mary, had been wronged much more than my perceived wrongs this morning. Yet, Matthew, through the Holy Spirit, calls Joseph righteous in his dealings with Mary. Not only is he righteous in choosing not to disgrace her but he's also compassionate towards her.

Later in the passage, Joseph also proves his self-control and obedience by following through with
making Mary his wife, keeping her a virgin, and then naming her son Jesus just as the angel had commanded.

In short, he responded the way I should have - with righteousness, compassion, obedience and self-control.

Praise the Lord with me this morning that He is a forgiving God. He does not keep me in my unrighteous state, but leads me to repentance and hopefully, to greater self-control for the future.

Enjoy your Wednesday.

- Magen Ranae

PS: Hope this post doesn't cause you too much shock after my 4 month absence. :)

We interrupt the regularly scheduled program...

2010-03-31T21:18:00.000-05:00

to bring you this news bulletin:

Mr. Myrick Leonard has made his appearance! He arrived on March 19th, 2010 at 9:38pm.
I had originally planned on doing a post about Micah and I's five year anniversary that day, but I was a bit busy laboring! We're planning on celebrating some day this summer instead, so I'll do a post then! :)

He was 7lbs 10.5 oz, 20.5 inches long, and adorable!

Oh, and just in case you were worried, no, he did not come at week 22. It was actually week 42, and I do still plan on getting posts up about my pregnancy weeks just as soon as I'm able.

Week 22

2010-03-17T15:45:00.001-05:00

Week 22 began on October 30th through November 5th.

On Monday November 2nd, Micah and I were in Kansas City for an elders retreat for our church. During one of the meetings he had his hand on my belly trying to see if he could feel the baby move (he hadn't been able to yet).

Then, he got REALLY excited because he was certain that he'd felt Hoover move, but really, it was me burping! I was trying to be quiet because we were in a meeting, but his excitement made me laugh out loud! Poor guy.

The next day, Tuesday the 3rd, I had another appointment at the birthing center. It went much smoother than my first experience there.

While I was waiting to be seen I was resting in the waiting room and felt hiccups for the first time!! That was really fun. I was so excited that when the midwife was ready to see me, I told her, "I just felt HIM hiccup," which I had tried to avoid before this, because obviously, we didn't want to know the gender - I just said him because of our nick name for the babe.

So, later in the appointment we were going through the sonogram information, and the first thing she said was, "So, you found out it's a boy?"

Me: "umm...no?! Does it say we're having a boy?!"

Midwife: "NO! It never says, really! You just called it a "him" 3 times! I just figured you knew!"

I don't think legally the sonogram place could have put the gender on my chart since we specifically asked them not to reveal the sex, but it's still fun to wonder if my midwife actually knows something we don't know!

Week 21 - The Great Crib Hunt

2010-03-14T14:00:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, October 24th, Micah and I went with my parents to Kansas City to celebrate dad's birthday and to look for a crib for our nursery. But, the hunt for nursery furniture started long before this!

Mom and I registered at Baby Depot for the crib and dresser set we liked, even though it was kind of expensive. But, almost as soon as we registered for it, it was discontinued.

We looked at a few places around town, but never found anything I really liked, which is why we scheduled the trip to Kansas City.

While in Kansas City, our first stop was Nebraska Furniture Mart. In the store's clearance section, I found a dresser that I really liked, and the store's baby furniture section had the matching dresser. I liked it a lot and was pretty sure I wanted to buy it, but we also wanted to look at another store before deciding for sure.

So, we left NFM, ate lunch, ran a few other errands, then went to the other store, USA Baby. We didn't really find anything there we liked better, so we headed back to NFM to purchase the crib and dresser before heading out of town.

But, alas, it was not meant to be (strike 2!). The clearanced dresser was gone, and I couldn't bring myself to pay another couple hundred dollars for the same dresser. So, we looked around Nebraska Furniture Mart a bit more, and I finally settled on a different crib and dresser set that was on special that weekend. But, when we asked a sales person about it, she informed us that the set wasn't included in the sale, and so it'd also cost $200 more than we'd originally thought. (Strike 3!)

After that, we were all kind of exhausted from the day, and didn't have the heart to start our search again, so we headed home.

After the third strike, I needed to take a break from looking for a bit, and really give thought to what I wanted in the nursery. This is when I changed from my original plan for the nursery to a whole new color scheme. I decided I wanted a lighter color wood, with brown walls and cream accents for things like the rug, rocking chair and bedding. Then, once we knew Hoover's gender, we'd add blue/green or pink, whichever was appropriate.

So, on the 29th, mom and I hit the local stores again. We wound up at Baby Depot looking at their sale furniture - buy a crib and get the dresser half off. I found a set I could live with, so I called my husband and my brother-in-law to make sure they'd be able to come and pick up the furniture for me. We went up to make the purchase, and the cashier informed us that even though the sign for the sale was on top of the dresser we were looking at buying, the set was not actually included in their sale! (Strike 4!)

Ugh, I was so mad!! I really, really wanted to argue it (I mean, the sign advertising the sale was actually ON TOP OF THE DRESSER I WANTED!!) But, I knew better than to think any of the employees could really make that kind of exception. And, once again, I couldn't bring myself to pay full price for a dresser I had originally thought would be half-price, so, we left empty-handed.

Well, not quite empty-handed. I did find this shirt that made me happy:

Even though we'd already looked at Babies R Us a handful of times since the start of our hunt, I talked mom into going one more time, just in case. And, I'm so glad I did! God is so faithful!!

We found 2 dressers that matched each other (one a chest of drawers, and one with an area that could be used as a changing table) in the clearance section. And, we found a crib that matched it not on clearance. But, the best part was, they were having a sale that weekend that let you get an additional 30% off of clearanced furniture! So, we got 2 cribs and our dresser for $457 including tax! Which was quite a bit cheaper than the other sets we had been looking at with only 1 dresser!

So, after 4 failed attempts, we finally had furniture for our new little babe!

Isn't God good? So many times, I got pretty discouraged, but mom kept reassuring me that we'd find something that worked, and that was way better than the previous options. And, she was so right.

Week 20

2010-03-11T14:00:00.000-06:00

Week 20 began on October 16th, and was quite the exciting week because I was SURE I felt the baby move on Monday the 19th.

Then, on Thursday the 22nd, I sat in bed for a good chunk of the morning just feeling Hoover move. I didn't know if I'd still be able to feel him move if I got out of bed, so I tried not to move much.

By the time I was 21 weeks, I was feeling him move even when I was up moving around.

What an exciting week!

15% off Alice.com giftcards

2010-03-08T12:41:00.002-06:00

Alice.com, which I've mentioned on here before, is doing a special right now, through March 11th where you can get 15% off any gift card purchases you make.

This is super fun to me, especially since you can buy stamps on Alice.com. How many people do you know who can get 15% off postage?!

If you haven't checked it out yet, you totally should!

The day I stole a case of water

2010-03-07T11:00:00.002-06:00

Ok, so I didn't really steal the case of water. But, I totally should have! Seriously, I know stealing is wrong and everything - but in this case, it would have made everyone's life much happier! :)

Let me start at the beginning:

So, there I was, minding my own business in the checkout line at the grocery store when I realized that I knew the cashier. I started unloading my purchases onto the belt as we chatted. She rang everything up for me, I paid the bill, and we said good bye and told each other how nice it was to see the other and all that jazz.

As I'm unloading my cart full of food into my car, I realized with alarm that I had a case of water on the bottom of my cart that I'd forgotten to tell my friend, the cashier, about so she could ring it up.

I had stolen a case of water.

This is when I stopped thinking clearly.

I knew that I couldn't just leave the case of water in the cart outside of the store, because the someone else would steal it, and the store still wouldn't profit from their loss of product. So, I decide the best thing to do is just push my cart with the water still on the bottom rack into the inside stall. That way, I could get the water inside the store, but not have to admit that I was a dirty rotten thief.

My plan would have worked too, if it weren't for this pesky old man (Ok, he wasn't pesky at all, he was really sweet - but it fits my Scooby-Doo impression better if he's pesky!)

See, as soon as I thought I was in the clear and walking away from my stolen case of water, the pesky old man stops me to inform me that I forgot the case of water I'd bought!

Remember that I said I stopped thinking clearly? This is probably the time when my thought process became the foggiest. The best course of action would have been to thank him, grab the case of water, and go back through the line again to pay for said water.

But, I wasn't thinking of the best course of action. For some reason, in my head, I was convinced that someone would think if I did that (go get in line to pay for it) I was trying to steal it!! Hehe...how's that for logic?

So, instead - I end up with the case of water at the customer service desk. I explain to the nice lady (Ok, really, SHE was the pesky one!) that I'd accidentally left the store with this case of water, and I'd like to go ahead and pay for it now.

She couldn't just praise me for my honesty. Oh no, she wanted to punish me. She wanted to see the receipt of my purchase, not to make sure I was correct, but to know which cashier to tattle on! :(

So, I ended up getting my friend in trouble for my inability to think clearly.

And this, my friends, is why I regret not stealing a case of water.

How to upset a pregnant lady

2010-03-04T13:00:00.001-06:00

During Week 18 of my pregnancy, I had my first appointment at the birthing center where I will have our little Hoove! It was really exciting, but it also turned out to be a little frustrating, too.

My grandma and I showed up at the birthing center around 9:30am for a 10am appointment to fill out paperwork. Mom and Micah showed up around 10am from their respective jobs. Then, we waited. And waited. And waited some more. At around 11am, they took us into the birthing room to show us around there and to go through my new mom packet.

After that, the nurse gave us a tour of the rest of the facility, then left us in the "stress test" room to wait for an exam room to open. I think we waited there for another 30 minutes or so.

Then the nurse moved us into the exam room to wait for a midwife. We waited ANOTHER 30 minutes or so. It was about 12:15 or so when we finally saw the midwife. I felt a little bit bad because when she asked how we were doing, I said, "Fine. Is it NORMAL to wait two hours to see someone?" She said it wasn't and that they were just having a bad day. She added that normally, they would have sent me home and asked me to come back a little later, but since I had my entourage with me, they didn't.

We listened to the heart beat, she asked everyone if they had any questions, and then we finally left around 12:30pm. So, 3 hours!

I hate to admit this - but I was one cranky pregnant lady. Around 10:45ish, I was starting to get a pretty bad headache. I hadn't had much water yet that day, and I didn't eat a very big breakfast because I thought I'd just come home and eat afterward. I had some Tylenol and water in the car, but I kept thinking we'd be leaving any minute!

So, I never did go get it. Instead, my headache kept getting worse and worse.

So, when we finally left at 12:30pm, I got out to my car and took some Tylenol. On an empty stomach.

Not a good idea.

Micah had taken three hours off so he could have lunch with us after the appointment. Since it had taken so long, he had to rush just to get back to work, but mom, grandma and I still went out to lunch. I took one bite of my food - and had my first pregnancy sickness experience! It was not pretty!

On the plus side, all my appointments since then have gone really smoothly. And I learned that Tylenol on an empty stomach is not something my pregnant body wants me to do.

Grandma's House

2010-03-01T09:00:00.000-06:00

My grandma has had this sign hanging over her basement stairs since I was a little girl. I always thought it meant that swimming wasn't allowed after 10pm (even though she didn't have a pool!) which always struck me as funny. It wasn't until I was a bit older that I realized this sign was not prohibiting SWIMMING, but swimming SUITS.

I'm not sure why, but this has made me giggle for years! Then, this year, my mom informed grandma of how much I adored the sign, and the fact that it has hung at my grandparents house for so many years. So, she took it off her wall and gave it to me for Christmas!

It now hangs proudly above Micah and I's basement stairs, and I couldn't be more pleased! A little piece of my grandma's house to enjoy throughout the day.

Week 19

2010-02-26T13:00:00.001-06:00

Not a whole lot to report on this week. We had our sonogram on Wednesday October 14th. We didn't want to find out the gender, but it was still nice to just see that there is actually a baby inside of me!!

Micah and I both think the best part was actually seeing the spine and such. It's so fascinating to see all the little parts.

They told me to finish drinking 30oz of fluids 1 hour before our appointment, and I must be the only one who actually does that, because the sono-tech was VERY surprised about the size of my bladder! He checked whatever it was that he needed to check regarding my bladder, then let me use the potty before he showed us the rest of the babe. It was nice to be able to relax. :)

10 things I like about my hubby

2010-02-23T08:33:00.005-06:00

I read a post over at Mama M's Place that inspired me to list out 10 (of the MANY things) I like about my hubby. So, here goes:

1) He plays games with me - even ones he hates!

2) He is always impressed with everything I get done in a day, even if all I did was get dressed and "grow his baby."

3) He is a peace maker, considering unity to be worth the effort.

4) He continually seeks out ways to cultivate the fruits of the Spirit in his life.

5) He makes a priority to cuddle me in the mornings before he leaves for work, even when he's running late (which is usually my fault!).

6) He's always seeking to learn new things about everything!

7) He has such a love for his family and especially his siblings and nieces and nephews. (The picture is of him and my niece Hannah. She made him that birthday cake - and sampled the frosting too! ;-) I love that he always makes a point to know each one of the kiddos as individual people, not just another member of the herd.)

8) He enjoys making up new concoctions to feed to me - even if I am super picky! He considers that part of the challenge.

9) His "take charge" attitude when he realizes that something has got to get done, or that I'm feeling overwhelmed.

10) His commitment to all things, in the proper order, whether it be God, me, his family, church, work.

That was a fun exercise. I love that man!

Week 18

2010-02-20T10:35:00.000-06:00

Week 18 began with me getting my first borrowed maternity clothes - thanks, Shawna!

The next day mom and I went to Mommy and Me, a local used clothing store, to try on maternity jeans and see what styles I might like. We also did some registering at Toys R Us and then met up with my sister-in-law Jessie to borrow some maternity clothes from her.

Jessie had a huge tub of all sorts of maternity clothes. (Thanks!) Mom and I were both really excited to realize I actually needed them now, so we went back to her house, where I tried everything on and gave her and my niece Hannah a modeling session! :) It was sure nice to have clothes that fit!

On Tuesday, October 6th, I had my first appointment with the birthing center. Because so many people were curious about the birthing center and how my delivery there would go, I had a pretty big entourage with me. But that's a whole other post!

At my appointment, I learned I weighed 152 pounds, up from 145 at the beginning of my pregnancy... though I like to think at least five of those pounds were due to getting off of our South Beach diet. I had lost a little over 20 pounds between October and June, so I wasn't that concerned about a few of them coming back.

New Year Resolution Update

2010-02-18T11:20:00.002-06:00

So, a month and half ago, I informed you that I was going to try my hand at cooking 50 new things before the end of the year.

I was hoping to get a good chunk of those under my belt before this babe came, but seeing as how I'm just shy of 38 weeks, and I've made little progress, I'm not seeing how that's going to happen!

But, I did want to share with you the progress I have made so far:

1) I made guacamole on 12/11

Which was my first ever attempt at peeling these bad boys:

2) cinnamon rolls on 1/3 for an Elder/Deacon lunch at my church

3) blue cheese dip on 1/14

4) cake balls on 1/18 which was the first time I used the candy apple red Kitchenaid that my parents gave me for Christmas. These were so good, I made them again a few weeks later!

5) brisket on 1/21 because I got it on manager's special and I have been feeling the need to expand my horizons where meat is concerned.

6) mashed potatoes on 2/17. Yes, you read correctly. Yesterday was my FIRST EVER time for making mashed potatoes. Can you believe that? We just don't eat potatoes much around here - and actually, we didn't even eat these ones! We sent them with dinner to a friend who just had a baby.

I used my mom's recipe, which is pretty much the worst possible way you can have potatoes, I'm pretty sure. You boil peeled and cut up potatoes (I had about 10 or so in a 3qt sauce pan), then mix in a whole package of sour cream, a whole package of cream cheese, and some garlic powder. Then you put it an oven safe casserole dish, cover it with pats of butter and sprinkle with paprika, and bake at 350 for 30 minutes or so until everything is nice and bubbly. That's it.

They're super easy, and way tasty - but not exactly a dieter's friend!

So, that's my list so far - 6 items. I've got a lot of other things written down that I'd like to try out, but I'm not going to post them here - because I'd like a lot of them to be a surprise for my hubby!

Week 17

2010-02-14T16:15:00.000-06:00

Week 17 was from September 25th through October 1st. (I really should get a move on these posts, huh?!)

It was during this week that I thought maybe I felt the first flutters, though I couldn't be sure.

It was also this week that a pair of my regular pants wouldn't button! I wasn't really showing yet, but my pants had gotten snugger and snugger until one day I couldn't wear them at all. I figured it was time to seek out some new clothes!

Sometime before then, I started regularly sleeping with a body pillow in order to try to keep me on my side. It was really hard to learn to sleep on my side, so I wanted to make sure I could by the time it was actually necessary!

This is a picture of our bed, with the body pillow in its normal position (under the covers, smack dab in the middle.) Because of the pillow's prominent position in the bed, my husband has affectionately (or, maybe not so affectionately!) named it "the boyfriend."

I'm not so sure he liked me choosing to "cuddle" with this pillow instead of him! But, you do what you've got to do, right?

Tie Dice

2010-02-11T15:00:00.000-06:00

I've mentioned before that my husband is a pretty fun children's ministry leader. But, it definitely bares repeating!

At Manna March, we have weekly themes that are usually linked to the topic for that week and it's corresponding verse.

On the night that we were learning about peace, the theme was to dress in tie dye. But, my dear husband likes to put a little twist on the outfits he wears. And, since I get the wonderful pleasure of being a stay at home wifey, I got to make him this:

Here's a close up:

It's a tie with dice on it. "Tie-dice," get it?! :) He's pretty clever! And, I had a lot of fun making it.

I don't get to be nearly as cool as him. I just borrowed my mom's tie-dye shirt, and tried to convince her I wouldn't stretch it out! (I was about 21 weeks pregnant in this picture.)

I can't wait for Hoover to see how "groovy" his parents are!!

Babysitting Gabe

2010-02-05T09:00:00.003-06:00

I started babysitting a sweet little boy named Gabriel when I was about 16 weeks pregnant.

I was still in the stage of my pregnancy where I got exhausted pretty easily. And Gabriel was in the stage of his life where he was working himself down from 2 naps a day to 1. These things did not seem to mix very well!! :)

So, most days I pulled out this Elmo seat to buy me 15 or 20 minutes of a stationary Gabriel. He could crawl around like crazy, so this was a life saver in the middle of the afternoon, even if it didn't last very long!

We sure did have a lot of fun - and even managed to get some things done! Like:

Playing with tupperware and exploring underneath the kitchen table.

Discovering the joys of Alice.com.

Folding laundry.

And sampling solid foods.

It was a fun 6 weeks or so, and great practice for what lies ahead in my near future!

Hope everyone has had a great week, and just a reminder, don't forget to check out the garage sale today or tomorrow!

Garage Sale

2010-02-02T11:15:00.000-06:00

If you live near me, or will be in town, be sure to come out to the big garage sale this weekend benefiting Haiti Lifeline Ministries.

It's at 21st and Gage (Journey Church) from 7am-7pm on Friday, and 7am-4pm on Saturday.

There will also be a bake sale and silent auction! Should be able to find some pretty neat stuff!!!

Week 16

2010-01-30T12:00:00.000-06:00

Look at how little I am at week 16!! And to think, when I was actually there, I was feeling kind of large!

Week 16 started on September 18th. Baby Center says that the babe is now 4.5 inches long, and 3.5 ounces. That's really hard to imagine! Isn't it amazing the things the Lord can do?

I have marked on my calendar that Monday the 21st was my worst night of sleep to date, and I'm pretty sure that still holds true. I tried sleeping everywhere, and just could not sleep! Not sure what the deal was.

On the 22nd I had a lunch date with my dear friend Ruth. We sat talking for hours about lots of things, and it was really delightful - with one exception. This was the day that I learned that it's very common for women to poop during delivery! I couldn't believe it! I'm really mortified about the idea, even though women who have had babies have reassured me several times that it really won't be a big deal. I can't get it out of my head!

And on that note, I think that's about it for week 16!

Cinzetti's

2010-01-27T17:30:00.000-06:00

Our church had an Elder's Retreat
a few months back where all the elders and their wives went out of town for a day to talk about the direction our church will be heading over the next year or so.

We had the pleasure of visiting Cinzetti's Italian Market Restaurant. As the name probably sugguests, Cinzetti's is an Italian buffet set up to look like an open air market. It's pretty fun!

It was about $15/person, and I believe they even allow kids 12 and under to eat free on Monday and Tuesday evenings.

I would definitely suggest it, if you're ever near one sometime! We had a great time (as you could tell from the picture!) and the food was fabulous!

I should go make some dinner now...writing this post made me hungry!

Week 15

2010-01-24T15:00:00.001-06:00

Week 15 of my pregnancy started on September 11th.

On the 11th is when I found the bedding for the nursery that I posted about previously. I've decided to go a different route since then, but I still really like the bedding, and it was really cheap, so I'll keep it around just in case!

I did have a pregnancy first this week! :) On the 15th was the first (and only, so far) time that I've wet myself (just a tiny bit!) while sneezing. Hehe...I don't think I would normally share this, but it struck me as kind of funny, so I wrote it down!

The 15th is also when mom and I started registering for the baby. Micah is really really not in to that sort of thing, so we thought it would be fun if mom went with me. And, it definitely was! :) It took us a few more outings to finish the registries because I was getting tired so easily, but we had a great time. We ended up registering at Babies R Us and Baby Depot (a part of Burlington Coat Factory.)

I had another first this week too, on the 17th, that has actually occurred many times since then. I noticed my gums bleeding just a bit while brushing my teeth. There are so many things I never knew were associated with pregnancy, it's kind of crazy.

In fact, I probably wouldn't have known that this was one of the things if it weren't for the Baby Center updates I've been getting in my e-mail box. At 16 weeks, our baby Hoover should be about 4 inches long and 2.5 ounces. It's really fun to know those little stats - it makes it more real some how!

Pioneer Woman Giveaway

2010-01-21T17:15:00.000-06:00

If you haven't noticed yet, Pioneer Woman is doing a giveaway on her blog today that is delightful!

She is inviting 4 people to come to her house for a sushi demonstration / weekend getaway!

I practically squealed when I saw it, then quickly realized that the dates for the event are way too close to Hoover's arrival for me to be able to go.

But, that doesn't mean YOU shouldn't hop on over and enter! I'll be jealous if you win, but I'll get over it.

Go check it out, and have a fabulous Thursday.

Week 14

2010-01-18T18:00:00.000-06:00

Week 14, which would have fallen on September 4th through the 10th, was a pretty exciting week in the pregnancy.

The week started with Labor Day weekend, which we spent at a camp work retreat. While at camp, we met one of our new nephews, Joel. I'm not sure if it was Joel's arrival that sparked Micah's thought process or not, but he started making a few comments that made me wonder if he was having second thoughts about a hospital birth.

Micah and I had talked about delivery options several times before we'd gotten pregnant, and he was pretty set on having a hospital birth. So, when I found out I was pregnant, I made an appointment with a midwife that could practice in the hospital, so that he could have the hospital birth, and I could have a little more relaxing atmosphere.

Then on the 8th or so he brought home The Business of Being Born which is a documentary (a bias one, I think - but aren't all documentaries?) about home births.

By this time, I was really starting to wonder what was in his head! After talking for a while, he said that I could switch to the birthing center!

I had an appointment with my first midwife on Wednesday the 9th. I called the birthing center to enroll with them (I had to strike while the iron was hot - didn't want Micah changing his mind again!) and they told me to go ahead and keep my appointment on the 9th because they wouldn't be able to get me in that soon. So, I went to my 2nd, and last, appointment with my midwife where I weighted 148.5 lbs, which is a total gain of 3.5lbs thus far, but down 1.5lbs from the last appointment. My mom accompanied me to this appointment so that she could hear the heart beat.

2010-01-15T13:30:00.000-06:00

This year I'm trying to read through the Bible chronologically. Because of this, I read the first few chapters of Genesis, then skipped to Job and read all of it before returning to Genesis.

Two things have really popped out to me so far in my reading. (Well, more than 2 things, but these are the ones that are on my heart today.)

Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. - Genesis 5:24

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil. - Job 1:1

After reading these verses, I couldn't help but think about what people will say of me when I'm no longer around. But not just what people would say about me, but what the Lord would want people to know about me.

One sentence each for these men, but they speak wonders about the way they lived their life. Just a few words, but a mighty testimony as to what pleases the Lord.

Could it be said of me that I walked with the Lord, as Enoch did? When reflecting on my life, would God Himself call me blameless and upright? Would He say that I feared Him and turned away from evil?

I love finding little nuggets like this in the Old Testament. It's nice to find things that are applicable to my life, things that I can work towards.

I hope you're finding little treasures as you read through His word this year!

Hoover

2010-01-12T13:30:00.000-06:00

I mentioned in my last pregnancy post that we call our babe Hoover. Here's "the rest of the story":

It all started when my brother and his wife were pregnant with my now 3 year old niece Hannah. Micah and I were bowling with my parents one Sunday night, and we got to talking about baby names. One of dad's only inputs to the conversation was that he wanted to make sure we didn't pick any "weird names like they're doing these days" for our boys. He wanted to make sure we picked "strong, normal names".

"Dad, what would you suggest?" I ask, thinking he'd be voting for Tom, since that's his name.

"I don't know, something like, Hoover!"

So, in honor of my dad, we decided to name our babe Hoover while in the womb. This allows us to be able to use pronouns without actually knowing the sex of our baby. And, it gives us something to call the Babe instead of "it" or "he/she" all the time.

So, there you have it!

My favorite line...

2010-01-09T07:00:00.000-06:00

from a really great book, Anne of Green Gables:

The blind was drawn and the lamp lighted, for an important toilet was being made.

Enjoy your day!!

Week 13

2010-01-05T11:00:00.003-06:00

Whew! With that break to share about my pregnancy brain, and then Christmas and the new year, it's been a while since I've blogged about my pregnancy on a week to week basis!

My week 13 with baby Hoover started on August 28th, the day of my brother Justin and his wife Ashley's second shower. Yay for nephews/cousins! (That just reminded me - I've never shared with you how our baby got the name Hoover, have I? I'll do that soon!)

On that following Sunday, I got baptized. Our church did it out at the lake, and had a potluck and celebration afterwards. It was such a delight to see everyone who also got baptized - including my mom, 2 of my sister-in-laws and one of my nephews.

Not to mention Hoover! :) Though, I'm not trying to start a debate on infant baptism (OR fetus baptism, for that matter). I just thought it was funny. I wonder how many other women have been baptized while pregnant?

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T08:00:00.003-06:00

Welcome to 2010!

What did everyone choose for their New Year's Resolutions, if anything?

I really tried not to have any goals this year. In fact, I had already written a post about how I thought it might be a good idea not to set myself up for failure with a new babe coming, and not knowing what to expect and so forth.

Then, I went and made a goal. It's nothing big, but should be enjoyable! I'm hoping to learn to cook 1 new thing per week. I'm not going to be real strict on the when the week starts and ends, I just hope to have about 50 new attempts under my belt by the end of the year!

I've already tried my hand at guacamole...and it was very tasty! I'll be sure to try that again. It was a first just to gut the avacado instead of having Micah do it for me!

I have also cooked my first turkey! I bought a couple when they were real cheap around Thanksgiving, but waited until last week to actually cook one. Now I've got lots of turkey meat in my freezer waiting to be used. That feels good. :) And, one more to cook!

This week I'm going to try my hand at cinnamon rolls!

Anyone got any suggestions for some other things to try? Some of my ideas include making cheese cake, and using lemon zest in something (I've always thought that was weird - but I hear it's good).

Hope you are enjoying the holiday weekend.

Pregnancy Brain

2009-12-29T07:00:00.000-06:00

I've had 2 experiences with pregnancy brain that are worth sharing.

My first experience happened when I was about 12 weeks along. Micah and I were out somewhere, but we had both of our cars. So, after he walked me to my car he said he'd call me (so that we could finish the conversation we were having.)

As I'm sitting in my car, getting ready to back out, I notice him reach into his pocket and pull out his phone. I immediately think, "hmmm, I wonder who he's calling?"

And then my phone rings. :)

The other experience that is note-worthy happened on Micah's birthday, when I was right at 20 weeks.

We were at a friend's house after going out to dinner with them, and I notice a box for a Christmas tree they just bought, sitting in their living room. As I was reading the outside of the box it struck me as odd that it listed, "682 tips" as one of its features.

I turn to my friend and say, "Who needs 682 tips to put up a Christmas tree?!"

And as soon as the words were out of my mouth I realize the error in my thinking! :) But, it gained them a laugh at least, so that's good, right?

I hope you enjoy your day, no matter the current state of your brain.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T14:00:00.003-06:00

Hope you're all taking a moment (or the whole day!) to remember the sacrifice God made on our behalf by sending His son, Jesus to earth as a baby, to be a living example for us.

We serve a loving and merciful God. :)

Link Love

2009-12-21T11:48:00.001-06:00

Remember my last link love post? Where I had spent quite a while reading a whole year's worth of posts on this blog?

Well, I've done it again. Only this time, it was another friend's blog I'd been neglecting so badly.

Some of the highlights:
- Her daughter dancing around the living room.
- Her daughter singing her ABC's and Jesus Loves Me.
- Her PARKING LOT delivery! If this is the only one you read, it's definitely worth it!!
- A story about a pelican.
- A horrible poop story for all you moms out there.

It was definitely a delight to be able to catch up on so many of her posts! Hopefully I'll keep on top of them now!

Week 12

2009-12-16T14:00:00.003-06:00

The fun week!!

We told my parents first, on Friday, August 21st. I told my mom by showing her the e-mail I was planning to send my co-workers the following Monday. She had started trying to read it out loud to my dad and brother, but couldn't make it through without crying. Hehe...so she knew what was going on, and I'm pretty sure dad and Justin were confused! But, Micah helped them out by finishing reading.

They were all super excited, to say the least! My brother's wife Ashley was expecting a little boy due in September, so it was fun to think about the cousins being so close in age.

As soon as dad figured it out, he called his mom (who lives just a few minutes away) and told her to get over there RIGHT NOW! He told her he had some news for her, but that she needed to hear it in person (he made it sound so serious!) She put up a fight, but finally came over (in her night gown!) to hear our news. :) Though, dad did try to convince her that he was moving out of state, before he'd let us spill the beans.

Next up: calling Micah's parents and siblings. We even got to go over to Joe and Jessie's house and tell them in person. We also called all of our closest friends that night (or tried to - Joy wouldn't answer her phone!) but swore them all to secrecy, especially where Facebook was concerned. We were so nervous that our church body and co-workers would find out before we got to share our news!

Saturday we continued to call the people we weren't able to get a hold of Friday night.

Then, Sunday morning at the end of service, Micah made an announcement about our children's ministry program, and "oh by the way, my lovely wife is pregnant!"

Monday was fun too. I sent the same e-mail I let my mom read to my co-workers, which announced that not only was I expecting, but that I'd also be leaving at the end of August. Micah sent his e-mail, which made most people laugh - but some send us sympathy replies, offering prayer and meals and so forth! :)

I must say - it was well worth the wait! It was super fun for Micah and I to have a secret that no one else knew for a short time. And, it was also super fun to tell all of our friends!

I'm sure other things happened this week, like my first experience with pregnancy brain, but those were by far the most fun! I'll post about the pregnancy brain soon!

Psalm 70:4

2009-12-12T09:00:00.000-06:00

It always delights my heart when I'm reading God's word and come across a portion of scripture that I learned a song for at camp. I love that the Word is truly hidden in my heart to be drawn upon whenever God triggers my brain to remember it.

Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
And let those who love Your salvation say continually,
"Let God be magnified."

Then, once the song/verse has been brought to my mind again, I'm able to meditate on it through out the day and continually ponder - am I rejoicing in the Lord? Am I giving glory to the God of my salvation for all of life's ~~coincidences~~ blessings?

Week 11

2009-12-08T13:30:00.001-06:00

This is the week we went to my husband's family reunion! It was so much fun to see a lot of his siblings and various other family members I've never gotten to meet before. My mother-in-law planned all the meals for the reunion, which was nice. We got to play games, sing songs, and I got to spend some time in the kitchen with my sister-in-law Michelle.

Once again - SO HARD not to share our news!! But, soon. Very very soon!

The company my husband works for (and that I still worked for for another week or so) had a couple company wide soft ball games on Wednesday the 19th and Thursday the 20th that I went out to enjoy. Though, I ended up leaving because I wasn't feeling well.

I think this was the week that I figured out I could fight queasiness by just eating lots! :) I hadn't eaten regularly enough that day, which I'm sure is why I wasn't feeling the best.

Making Laundry Soap

2009-12-04T13:00:00.000-06:00

Thanks to my friend Shawna, I made my first 5 gallon bucket of laundry soap a while back.

She was kind enough to provide me with all of the ingredients I needed to make the soap, and this link for directions. All I had to do was spend about $6.50 on a 5 gallon bucket with a lid. Not too bad for 5 gallons of laundry soap.

And, the next 5 gallon bucket won't be that expensive either, because the only things I'll have to buy that go round are a bar of soap and some washing soda. I won't even have to buy borax, cause she gave me plenty for my next batch too!

This is quite the money saver, which is very helpful right now because I seem to be going over my grocery budget pretty regularly, though I'm trying to be better at that.

If you're not already making your soap - consider giving this a try. I think it'd cost you about $15 to get started (including all ingredients and the bucket) but the ingredients should last you for 4 or 5 batches (5 gallons each). And, if you already have some of the stuff laying around - even better!

Week 10

2009-11-30T12:00:00.005-06:00

My week 10 started on Friday August 7th, and on Saturday August 8th I got to go to a shower for my sister-in-law Jessie. (Have I mentioned before that I had 3 sister-in-laws due in September?! It's definitely a fun place to be!) It was fun to day dream about having a baby of my own to hold sometime in the not too distant future, and him or her having lots of cousins around to play with!

On Tuesday August 11th, I had my first appointment with a midwife that can practice in both hospitals.

From what I could tell, I'd gained about 5lbs since when I first found out I was pregnant. (Is this a sign of things to come?!) We also got to hear the heart beat, but it just sounded a lot like a ceiling fan to me!!

The on the 12th, I gave my 2 week notice to my employer. It was kind of weird to do this, when none of my co-workers knew yet that I was pregnant, let alone our parents or any of our friends! I made my manager promise not to share either piece of news for another couple of weeks.

My manager's response was like you'd expect. She was sad I was leaving, wanted to make sure I wasn't just leaving for another job - that sort of thing. But, one thing I didn't expect, was her very first question after I told her my due date of March 5th: "Is 2010 a leap year?!"

"Ummm...what?" Hehe...it took me a minute to figure out what she was getting at, but she was wondering about the possibility of our baby being born on leap day.

Leap year is not in 2010, so that's not an issue this go round. But, what do you think? Would you like having a baby on leap day? Or, not? I think it might be kind of fun and unique for the child, and it's not like they'd not get to celebrate it on the 28th or something - but who knows! Maybe that's something awful to wish on a kid! Any thoughts?

Anyway!! We didn't plan on me quitting that soon. I had intended to work at least a few more weeks than I did. But, I was sooo emotional at work! I didn't think I could handle it anymore. That, and it was kind of like "senioritis". I knew I was quitting soon - so why not get it over with?

It was definitely exciting to think that in just over 2 weeks, I'd be a stay at home wifey.

Cyber Monday

2009-11-30T08:58:00.002-06:00

Remember my post on Alice.com a couple of weeks back?

Well, today only, you can buy gift cards on their site for 15% off. But, if you announce it on your facebook page first, you can buy them for 30% off.

So, if you buy a $25 gift card, it'll only cost you $17.50. A $50 gift card will only cost you $35! :) It's kind of a fun way to save on toilet paper and shampoo just for "pre-paying".

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T14:00:00.003-06:00

I hope all of you are enjoying your Thanksgiving with family and friends, and remembering to thank the God who gave you that family and those friends - not to mention providing for all of them!

I find myself very thankful this year.

- My husband does a great job of showing Christ's love to me in our marriage.
- My God is, even now, growing a little one inside of me for Micah and I to love on.
- We have a huge family in which to enjoy lots of blessings from this life.
- We are members of a body of believers that truly seek to live for the Lord.
- We have all that we want, and even more than we need in terms of money and possessions.

God is good. I hope you enjoy this day, set aside to remember all the wonderful things He has done.

Week 9

2009-11-20T10:00:00.001-06:00

Week 9 was from July 31st until August 6th. On August 1st my mom and I threw a family and friends baby shower for my brother Justin and his wife Ashley.

I had SO much fun planning this shower! It was a couples shower/BBQ with very few of the traditional baby shower games.

My favorite part was coming up with a baby related menu. We had baby back ribs, "newborn" potatoes, Bahama Mommas, Slippery Nipples, and Baby Ruth brownies, to name a few!

This pictures is one of my favorite - who knew that blue hangers could be so exciting?! Especially for a dad who just minutes before complained that baby showers were for girls!

I know I've said this before, but it was SOOO hard not to tell our family while everyone was there that we were expecting too. But, if nothing else, I was able to restrain myself with the fact that I didn't want to steal their thunder!

Alice.com

2009-11-16T11:30:00.001-06:00

I just recently made my first purchase on Alice.com. It's a shopping site where you're able to look for and buy household items you use every day, and they'll ship them to you for free. I made the order on a Wednesday evening and received it on Monday. I bet it'd be even faster than that, if I hadn't ordered mid-week.

I should mention that there is an order restriction: your first order you've only got to buy one item but in subsequent orders, 6 items is required. Though, I think once you start playing around with it, you'll have no problem finding 6 items to choose!

One of my favorite parts (keeping in mind that I've only made one order so far!) are the coupons they have to correspond with the products. If you choose to purchase a product, they go ahead and apply any coupons that are available, so you don't have to clip and worry about your coupons expiring.

What I got in my first order:

Qty	Item	Price	Coupon	Total
1	Baby Diapers Luvs	$6.78	$1.00	$5.78
1	Baby Diapers Luvs	$6.78	$1.00	$5.78
1	Dish Liquid Joy Dishwashing Liquid/Antibacterial Hand Soap	$1.15	$0.30	$0.85
1	Disposable Razors Bic Shavers	$2.96	$2.00	$0.96
1	Facial Tissue Kleenex Tissue	$0.98	$0.15	$0.83
1	Facial Tissue Puffs Facial Tissue	$1.05	$0.10	$0.95
1	Shaving Cream Old Spice Moisturizing Shave Cream	$1.61	$0.50	$1.11
1	Toilet Paper Angel Soft Bathroom Tissue	$4.07	$0.50	$3.57

This is just a slightly different break down of the cost:

Subtotal $25.38
Coupons - $5.55
Other Discounts $0.00
Tax $1.58
Shipping Always Free
Total $21.41

Not too bad for 92 diapers (size 1 and 2) and a few other things we were needing.

Oh, and an account is completely free. So, feel free to sign up here and look around, even if you're not sure you'd like to buy.

Let me know what you think!

Week 8

2009-11-11T10:00:00.001-06:00

This is the first week I took a belly shot - though there isn't a belly, nor will there be for several more weeks! (The belly you see is the one I gained after being off of the South Beach diet for a few weeks, or never lost in the first place!) But, it's still fun to have pictures to go along with this journal. And, hopefully, with the scrapbook/journal/baby book I'm hoping to make!

On Saturday we took 4 of our nephews to the 4-H fair in Micah's home town while their parents went to a get together with friends.

It was a lot of fun! We took them to pet several animals and to look at projects their aunts and uncles made. They got their hands painted, had balloon animals made for them, and got to eat pizza rolls for dinner!

Then the fun really began: carnival rides!! There were so many choices to be made for those 5 and 6 year olds, because Uncle Micah and Aunt Magen limited the fun to 2 rides each (the tickets were like $3 or $4 a piece!)

Then to top it off, cotton candy was had by all! :)

It was a fun day! And, it definitely got me thinking about all the fun things Micah and I will some day do with our youngins. We'll definitely have to plan on family outings to take them on.

And, including the cousins will definitely be a must!

Cheap contact solution

2009-11-07T07:30:00.000-06:00

Do any of my readers wear contacts? Money Saving Mom keeps mentioning Renu Contact Solution coupons. The travel size bottles are $1.54 at Target, and with the $1.00 coupons I've been getting all the time, I thought 54 cents was a pretty good deal. I don't need the stuff, but I've picked up one or two.

So, any takers? If you live in my town, I'd be happy to drop them by anytime!

Week 7

2009-11-03T10:00:00.003-06:00

A very uneventful week. This week started on the Friday that we were still in Vegas. Mom and I flew home that Saturday, and our husbands drove and got home on Sunday.

Micah and I both had Monday the 20th of July off work which was nice to get to relax and get some laundry taken care of.

I think the only thing I had scheduled that week was a Women's Ministry Leadership meeting. It was still really hard not to spill my secret. Especially while telling my fainting story!

Link Love

2009-10-30T12:00:00.000-05:00

I've been trying to catch up on this blog lately. It's written by a dear friend of mine with 6 kids, and is always good for a laugh - and some scriptural encouragement.

Some of my favorite posts from this year (Yes, I was THAT far behind):
- A list of 12 things that keep a stay-at-home mom out of the house (AND the kids happy).
- A list of "How things change" going from one kid to six. Probably this was most funny to me now, on the eve of my first child, trying to be realistic about all my new parenting goals.
- A list of things she appreciates about her husband.
- A list of questions continually rolling around in her head regarding parenting.
- A list (surprised?) of how she knows school has started.
- The difference between boys and girls in kindergarten.

Can anyone tell I REALLY like lists?! If you get a chance, definitely stop by and read a few posts. I think you'll be glad you did!

You can even tell her Magen sent you, though, I'm pretty sure nothing will be gained from it. :)

This week's menu

2009-10-26T10:00:00.000-05:00

This makes 3 weeks in a row! Go me!

Monday:
Micah's Lunch - Chicken Pot Pie leftovers
Dinner - Grandma cooks

Tuesday:
Micah's Lunch - White Chili leftovers (Thanks again, Carrie!)
Dinner - Chicken and Rice Soup

Wednesday:
Micah's Lunch - Salad
Dinner - Tacos

Thursday:
Micah's Lunch - Chicken and Rice Soup leftovers
Dinner - Breakfast (We STILL haven't done this yet!)

Friday:
Micah's Lunch - leftovers of some sort, probably White Chili (Hehe...the only reason I even bother listing these out is so that I'm sure I'll cook something that will be good for him to take for lunch!)
Dinner - Chili Frito Pies again (yummy!)

Saturday:
Lunch - Anything that's left! :)
Dinner - Rudy's Birthday party at Mom's house

Week 6

2009-10-22T16:30:00.004-05:00

Week six started on Friday July 10th through Thursday July 16th. This was the week that we went to Vegas, and was definitely the hardest as far as symptoms were concerned!

Mom and I flew out on Sunday the 12th. I normally get pretty car sick but I knew I wasn't able to take anything for it. The plane ride was so miserable. Did you know that it's common for pregnant women to experience sinus issues while flying? My nose was soooo runny! I only had a few tissues, and couldn't figure out why I was having such a problem. It wasn't til after, when I was able to look up my symptoms, that I realized that was pretty common.

I wish the flight had been the end of my motion sickness, but unfortunately getting around the streets of Las Vegas isn't exactly smooth traveling. My dad does really good driving in big cities, but I wish he'd use his brakes a BIT less. :)

I believe it was Wednesday night when the real scare came for my honey. That evening, we took to the strip with several people who'd never seen it before. We started at one end and walked clear to the other side. At about 10pm or so, we were standing outside of the Treasure Island, waiting for their free show to start. It was so hot (I think Micah bought me at least 2 bottles of waters from the street venders along the way) and I was so tired from the long walk. Then, we got crammed in around a bunch of people who were also hot! Oh, and did I mention that we hadn't had dinner yet?

My poor mom felt the affects of this awful combination first. She was getting very dizzy, and almost fainted. Dad went to take her inside the casino to sit down and get something to eat. I tried to follow after him, since I wasn't feeling well either, but he asked me to stay with everyone else until the end of the show so I could tell the rest of our group where they'd gone.

That worked until about half way through the show. I'm not sure if it was the smoke from the show, or just all the standing, but I started feeling very dizzy. The next thing I knew, I was sitting on the ground and Micah and another guy that had come with us were helping me up. I think I chose to sit down, but I'm really not sure.

My poor honey! He was the only person at this point that knew I was pregnant. And, I'm sure there were so many worries going through his head.

By this point, EVERYONE was ready to go inside for food, so we skipped out on the rest of the show, and went to go eat. We found my mom, who told me to drink some orange juice that she had. I was feeling so hot, but then started shivering! (Mom said that was a stage she went through too, and told me to just keep sipping the O.J. She's a smart lady.)

We got food, took a cab back to the hotel (dad went and fetched the car), and fell into bed exhausted.

The rest of the week Micah was continually making sure mom and I had enough to eat!! He's quite the trooper.

I was so ready to be home. I would say that this has been the worst week of my pregnancy so far! :) So much for a vacation, right?

Meal Plan

2009-10-19T12:30:00.000-05:00

Monday:
Micah's Lunch - Leftover Pad Thai (Thanks Carrie!)
Dinner - Grandma Cooks

Tuesday:
Micah's Lunch -Salad with grilled chicken
Dinner - Skillet Chicken and Dumplings

Wednesday:
Micah's Lunch - Skillet Chicken and Dumplings
Dinner - Spaghetti

Thursday:
Micah's Lunch - Leftovers
Dinner - Chili Frito Pies

Friday:
Micah's Lunch - Leftovers
Dinner - Breakfast

Saturday:
KC all day with mom and dad!

Nothing new on this menu - I knew I planned way too much food last week. But, that means no trip to the grocery store this week. Which, is a really good thing, since I spent twice as much this last pay period than our normal budget! Time to get back on track!

My hubby is an old man...

2009-10-16T08:00:00.000-05:00

But, I don't mind!

How could I, when he's just so cute?

This is him a few weeks ago at our Children's Ministry program (That he created!), Manna March. He is the commander, and he gets so into serving these kids. He loves them so much, it's really encouraging to me.

For instance, do you know how weird it feels to him to be without a beard? And, he shaved it off (half way at first!) just to celebrate crazy hair night with them. He's a good man.

On his birthday, I find myself thinking back on all the things we've done together, and all the reasons I have to love him, and I find myself in awe that God would provide such a wonderful man for me. (Though, I guess that's not a very good testament to my faith - I was praying for that for years before. But, I like to think of my awe as thankfulness, not doubt!)

Did you know that he considers my dad one of his best buds? In fact, he truly LIKES spending time with my family. I know to most of you reading this, you're probably thinking "duh!" but it's not as common as you might think. There were more days than I could count that I left work feeling so sad for the people who were so bitter towards their in-laws, or who complained that their spouse didn't like their family. It's a very sad life, I'm sure.

Did you know that he truly wants me to do whatever my little heart desires during this time between work and a baby? Honestly! One morning, about a week ago, he suggested I pack up and go to Panera for the morning, knowing full well that the dishes, laundry and house in general needed some attention. And, it's not unheard of for him to come home and do those things, even when I've been out gallivanting around the town! He's pretty selfless in his love for me.

I could make this post forever long, but I realize that you all probably aren't as fascinated by this man that the Lord has given me, nearly as much as I am!

So, let's just suffice it to say - God is good, and I'm wishing That Wonderful Man of mine a fabulous day today (and the weekend too - why not?!)

Love you, dearest.

Meal Plan and Cooking Day

2009-10-13T17:43:00.005-05:00

I was so inspired by Money Saving Mom's Baking Day Posts last week, that I decided it's time for me to get back into meal planning, and hopefully stock up my freezer for days that I'm not feeling up to cooking.

So today in between my hanging out time with one of my sister-in-laws, that's just what I did! This morning I cooked some chick peas that I'd soaked last night, and made these cookies. Then just a little bit ago I started some pinto beans soaking, put some brown rice in the oven to bake, and cooked up some chicken for meals this week.

I even have a menu plan:

Monday:
Micah's Lunch - Leftover potato soup
Dinner - Grandma cooks
Tuesday:
Micah's Lunch - Leftover crab linguine
Dinner - Skillet chicken & dumplings
Wednesday:
Micah's Lunch - Leftover Skillet chicken & dumplings
Dinner - Micah's hamburger and chick pea concoction
Thursday:
Micah's Lunch - Leftover Micah's hamburger and chick pea concoction
Dinner - Friend's house?
Friday:
Micah's Lunch - Leftovers
Dinner - Chicken Alfredo
Saturday:
Lunch - Leftover Spaghetti stuff
Dinner - Chili Frito Pies

We probably won't end up eating all of these things, we're kind of bad about eating out, and I'm never a good judge of how far leftovers will stretch. But, I still have makings for "Breakfast for Dinner" and also tacos. It's kind of an odd week as far as meals go because all said it only required 3 things from the grocery store! I'm trying to use our pantry (instead of organizing it - cause I'm lazy) so that I can re-stock it with ingredients, not crud.

I had a few pictures of the chick peas and cookies and such, but they were boring, and I haven't figured out how to upload from my new camera yet, so maybe next time!

Week 5

2009-10-11T13:00:00.001-05:00

There wasn't a lot to report on this week. Very few symptoms.

It was VBS this week for our church, and so I saw a lot of my church family every day this week. It was SO SO SO hard not to spill our secret!!

Proverbs 12:11

2009-10-05T14:00:00.000-05:00

He who tills his land will have plenty of bread, but he who pursues worthless things lacks sense.
-Proverbs 12:11

I have 18 things on my to-do list today. All of these things have worth:
- Having a quiet time
- Cleaning my kitchen floor
- Planning meals

Everything in its place, right? I'm focusing first on the Lord, then on being a good steward of the things He has given to Micah and I by keeping up on house work, and being frugal in what we spend, even at the grocery store. They're all good things.

But, I was struck today with the fact that, if I don't seek the Lord, and His will for my day - then I won't know which things HE considers to be "of worth."

Week 4

2009-09-29T14:54:00.001-05:00

I found out I was pregnant somewhere in the middle of week 4. (I believe it was Monday June 29th).

Day 4 - I had had an inkling all day that I might be pregnant, despite the fact that I had had one minor time of spotting the previous Friday. So I went home after work and took a pregnancy test. It was one that if you weren't pregnant, the window would stay blank, but if you were, there would be a blue line. Well, I had a VERY VERY VERY light, VERY VERY VERY thin (was it even blue?!) line. So, as you might imagine, I was excited, but not entirely convinced!

So, before my honey got home, I ran to CVS, and picked up a digital pregnancy test (one that would say PREGNANT or NOT PREGNANT) so there'd be no question. Micah called while I was waiting the customary 2 minutes to look at my results. So then, my heart started racing! I had a plan for how I wanted to tell him - and tonight was not the night!

So, I rushed him off the phone, knowing I had about 10 minutes to hide the evidence. I quickly discovered I was pregnant, sent up a short prayer of thanksgiving, snapped a picture, and stashed everything in my night stand!

Day 5 - Do you know how hard it is to keep a secret from your best friend?! Especially one this big?! I went to work, practically DYING in anticipation of the end of the day!

Once 3 o'clock rolled around, I headed off to Walgreens to have my picture developed (on a disposable camera; how convenient.) The kind lady at the desk informed me that they probably wouldn't be able to have it done in an hour, but if I wanted to check back at 5, they'd probably have it completed. I sure hope she didn't misread my disappointment as annoyance. I thanked her, and went home, settling in for another evening of NOT SHARING THE NEWS I WAS BURSTING WITH!!

Later that evening, I was able to go back (I believe Micah was babysitting some of our nephews that night) and pick up my pictures from Walgreens. To my major disappointment this time, the picture didn't really come out. You could tell it was a pregnancy test, but the result was not obvious.

So, I headed home once again, armed with a second disposable camera, and attempted to take yet another picture. But, when I pulled out the stashed pregnancy test - it was blank. Apparently digital tests only hold their result for 24 hours. This is when I decided to give up and make use of the picture I already had. I probably could have tried to take another test, but there was no guarantee that the next picture would turn out any better.

Day 6 - FINALLY!! The day is here to tell my honey! I run off to work, super excited to get my picture and note to the dad-to-be into an inter office envelope by the earliest mail run of 6:30am. If all goes as planned, he'll have it sitting in his chair when he gets to work at 8:30am.

But, all does NOT go as planned (has anyone caught on to a theme in this story?!). The day goes sloooooowly on, and still no word from my honey. Surely he'd call after receiving such a package. Surely he wouldn't leave me hanging ALL DAY. He can't ge THAT busy.

As I'm walking out the door at the end of my day, I can't stand it anymore. I call him, and must have seemed really frustrated. "What do you MEAN you haven't gotten any mail today?!" "I sent you something at 6:30am this morning, are you SURE you didn't miss it?"

So much for the surprise factor! :)

So, my sweet, completely caught off guard hubby, (I'm sure he was wondering why I earth I was so frustrated!) chased down the mail room attendant, and begged him to look for anything that might be addressed to him. He found it, and called me back super excited like 3 minutes later. FINALLY!!

So, on July 1st, 2 whole days after I discovered the news, my hubby is finally let in on my little secret, and I add week 4 to one of the longest weeks of my pregnancy, thus far!

Lions and Tigers and Bears...

2009-09-22T14:00:00.000-05:00

...and Alligators and Giraffes, oh my!

These are a few pictures of the crib bedding I got a couple weeks ago for a whole $8.60! I was super pumped!!

Now all I need to do is register for solid colored sheets, and find cute wall hangings and accessories to go with my "zoo" theme. Those of you who are good at craigslist or window shopping online, keep an eye peeled, if you don't mind! :)

A sign of the times

2009-09-16T08:00:00.000-05:00

Would you believe that our biggest concern when we were telling people we were pregnant was that the news would make it out onto Facebook before we had a chance to tell everyone ourselves?

It's so weird to have to worry about that! But, we told our family on a Friday, our friends Saturday, and our church body on Sunday. Then, we wanted to send a few funny e-mails to spread the news at work on Monday, but we didn't want our co-workers to have already heard. So we actually begged the members of our church body not to congratulate us on Facebook until Monday afternoon! :) Isn't that pathetic?

Anyway, I thought you might like to read the letters my dear hubby Micah wrote to our co-workers! They're pretty entertaining!

To my co-workers:

Dear co-workers,

My husband and I recently found out we are expecting a very important guest, who plans to arrive in March and will stay with us indefinitely. We have a lot to do to get ready for our guest, so we'll be very busy! Because of this, I have turned in my resignation notice, and my last day will be Friday, August 28.

I have really enjoyed working with such a wonderful group of people, and I will miss you all. As the day of our guest's arrival draws nearer, though, I'm sure I will be very busy with getting things ready. We are planning on preparing a special room just for our guest, and we will also be trying to do other things to create a homey atmosphere (this guest doesn't get out much and probably won't be used to spending a lot of time with people, so we will have to ease into our relationship). I have also heard that the guest may have trouble sleeping through the night, so we are going to try to make the room as comfortable as possible in order to establish a regular sleep schedule.

There will be a lot of stress, and I bet I will start eating more to help me handle the strain. In fact, I'm afraid I might start gaining weight at the rate of about a pound per week until the visit, but I have heard of a great weight-loss plan that allows a person to lose about 15-20 pounds in less than a day, so I am planning on trying that around the time the guest arrives. As you might imagine, it can take a few days to recover from such a strenuous weight-loss plan, so I am planning on some bed-rest right after the arrival.

We appreciate all the support you've shown us, and we'd like for you to keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we prepare for this big event in our lives. It's a little bit intimidating to be welcoming a new person into our home, especially when we don't yet know the guest's name, or even if it will be a boy or a girl, but one thing is certain: we will love him or her very, very much. We'll be sure to let you know all about our little guest just as soon as (s)he arrives!

-Magen

To Micah's co-workers:

Team,

I just wanted to let you know before you hear elsewhere that Magen has been diagnosed with a medical condition which has made it necessary for her to terminate her employment with our company.

The medical condition is known as primigravida. Essentially, it involves a microscopic organism that nests in an unsuspecting host and grows gradually more and more powerful over time. The host often experiences nausea, mood swings, and inexplicable cravings (all of which are driven by the chemical imbalances caused by the organism). As the organism develops, it begins to sap the vital nutrients from the host’s body and even hampers the host’s immune system. The organism’s growth is almost exponential, causing the host to gain weight at a phenomenal rate – especially toward the terminal stages of the condition.

The prognosis suggests that the next few months will be full of most of the above symptoms. However, there is some hope. Our specialist anticipates that around the beginning of next March, Magen’s body will naturally expel the organism, leaving her in some pain, but with a lovely little bundle of joy to make the whole thing worthwhile.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers as we deal with this life-changing event.

-Micah

Link Love

2009-09-10T22:15:00.001-05:00

I have thoroughly enjoyed (and will continue to for several more days, I'm sure!) catching up on all my friends blogs! I've never really been completely caught up since before I gave up the internet for lent. And, because I'm a weirdo, I've had a LOT to read.

Some highlights:

Joy posts weekly pictures and updates on her little girl, Hannah. She's pretty stinkin' adorable!

Rachel always makes me laugh, but recently it's been because she posts about her hatred of movies A LOT. This has got me wondering about myself. I can probably count on one hand the movies I've not liked. Is this because I'm just that much less picky? I don't think that's true. I think it's probably more realistic to say that I'm much MORE picky - and that I don't sit down to watch a movie unless I KNOW I'll like it. So, what does that say about me? Do I use my time wisely? Or, am I not very adventurous? It's at least something to think about!

Money Saving Mom has been fun to catch up on, as well. I don't go back and read every one of her posts since they're mostly outdated if you don't get to them right away. But, lately, I've been intrigued by all the free samples you can get and have recently tried out paper towels and toothpaste. It's like Christmas getting little packages in the mail all the time!

Some others are favorites to catch up on because they always have fun things to share about their kids. So, if you feel like giggling, hop over to: Michelle's, Jessie's, Shawna's and Rachel's!

I've got lots more to catch up on, but I sure don't mind!! :)

Cleaning Marathon results

2009-09-04T14:08:00.002-05:00

Well, I didn't quite make it.

By noon, I had finished my quiet time and completed the closet, family room, and packing. I also had the kitchen mostly done (waiting for the dish washer to finish), the bedroom almost complete (waiting for the sheets to come out of the dryer) and the bathroom was only lacking a clean floor.

So, after taking a much needed break for lunch, I jumped back in!

And, I would say everything went pretty well! Within another hour, I had the kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, fridge and basement floors done. The only thing that is not complete are the upstairs floors, but those are technically on my list for Wednesday, so I'll get to them.

Overall, I consider this a success!!

Enjoy your long weekend!

Cleaning Marathon

2009-09-04T08:39:00.002-05:00

I have a goal this morning, as I prepare our house for visitors, and pack up for a weekend at camp.

I would like to:

1) Have my quiet time
2) Reorganize my hall closet (b/c until last night, it was covered in dust from our living room project)
3) Clean up the kitchen
5) Straighten our bedroom and wash our bedding
5) Straighten the family room (which currently holds all the contents of our hall closet)
6) Pack for the weekend, and load up the car
7) Clean the bathroom
8) Clean out the fridge
9) Sweep and vacuum the floors

The trick is: I'd like to have all of this done by noon! I'll report back! :)

My first day at my new job....

2009-08-31T11:28:00.002-05:00

and I'm loving it!!

I've had a few moments of extreme giddiness already. One happened around 4pm on Sunday when I was kind of dreading the end of the weekend - until I realized I wasn't going back to my old job! Then I just got really excited about starting my massive to-do list. :) What should I call this 6 months when I'm not working, but not too occupied with mothering? Something like "The Indianapolis 500" comes to mind, but I think that's been done before. :) Any ideas?

My second moment of giddiness came when I woke up at 5:45 this morning and had to restrain myself from jumping out of bed to start my list! I'm sure the newness will wear off in a matter of days, but it sure is fun while it's here.

Hope everyone is enjoying their Monday.

Back in the saddle again!

2009-08-25T10:13:00.002-05:00

I was going to post these pictures with a date and break down of the stores and how much I paid for each thing - but, I seem to have forgotten. I started couponing again a few weeks ago...but blogging didn't follow as fast as I thought it might!

Anyway, I think I spent around $7 or $8 on all of this stuff - so I happy to be back in the swing of things!

How has everyone been?

I'm Back!

2009-04-19T19:42:00.003-05:00

I didn't really get a chance to tell my blogging friends that I'd be giving up the internet for Lent. So, sorry about that. But, I'm back, and hope to be blogging more regularly in the near future.

Being off the internet was a little bit easier than I imagined. But, one thing that I didn't expect was to find other things that fill my time - even now that I can be on the internet more. I'm not sure when I found time to read everyone's blogs before I went on my internet fast! It seems that now I can't find more than 5 minutes to string together to work through my inbox!

But, I have over 300 e-mails to sort through, and countless entries in multiple blogs that I'd like to catch up on! So, hopefully I'll find time soon.

Not now, however. I'm off again, to cheer my dad on to victory in his bowling league championship!

Enjoy your Sunday!

52 firsts, revisited

2009-02-10T16:30:00.001-06:00

Well, it's probably no surprise to you: but, once again, I bit off more than I could chew.

Way back in Dec 2007 I committed to doing 52 things in 2008 that I'd never done before.

Well, the last time I've posted anything about that was in May of 2008. I doubled my list of recorded firsts!! Of course, that jumped the total up from 5 to a whopping 10! Thrilling, I know!

And though I know the year is over, and there's nothing I can do to make my failure any more un-faily, I still thought I should share with you the other firsts I did accomplish. Cause, believe it or not, there were more than 10, and I want credit for them!!

So,
11. My first time playing Wii. I think the first time I played it was over at my friend Melissa's house. They had Mario Cart, and that was pretty fun. Sadly though, I was forced to play it like 3 or 4 times in the next week, at one person's house or another. Am I the only one who doesn't like video games of any sort, even if they are the newest and hottest? I thought so.

12. Getting a pedicure. My dear mother had surgery this year and was very concerned. Very concerned, that is, about someone seeing her in such a vulnerable state WITHOUT HER TOE NAILS PAINTED. I, of course, understood the horror this would cause not only to her but also to all of our future generations. So being the good daughter I am, I could not let the surgery come even a second closer until we got our toe nails done. How is that for being emotionally supportive?

13. Spending $100 on a pair of shoes. It hurt to even type that. Yes, the coupon wierdo, the accountant, the frugal freak went out and willingly paid $100 for a pair of dress shoes. But, not just any dress shoes. Doc Martins. Because, let's face it, Doctors have to pay their student loans some how...or something.

14. Making meat loaf. And, it was a yummy meat loaf indeed. Most of my readers have probably had it already as a part of Shawna's freezer meal get togethers. But, if you haven't, I'd suggest you try it TONIGHT!

Mini Cheddar Meatloaves

1 large egg
3/4 cup milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt, pepper and garlic pwd
1 pound lean ground beef

2/3 cup ketchup
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons lemon juice or white vinegar

1. In a bowl, beat the egg and milk, stir in cheese, oats, onion and spices. Add beef and mix well. Shape into eight loaves; place in a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish.
2. Combine ketchup, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice; spoon over loaves.
3. Bake, uncovered, at 350*F (175*C) for 45 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 160*F (70*C).

Makes 8 servings.

15. My first time making pancakes. This one is pathetic and sad, but also true.

16. Getting a REAL job. Not one that pays minimum wage. Not one that I work at only part time. But, a full blown real job, complete with insurance and 401(k). I know, weird, huh?

17. Quitting a REAL job...without a 2 week notice, and within 2.5 months.

18. Mailing stamps. It's a weird feeling to put a stamp on postage so that you can send it to someone. Take my word for it.

19. Getting my finger prints taken. If your mind is now running wild with the reasons I might have had to do this particular first - you can prepare to be disappointed. One of my firsts is NOT having been in jail....though, this list would be a lot more interesting if that were the case. This was actually just part of a routine background check for my employer.

20. Cooking beans (as opposed to buying them canned). I lead a very interesting and daring life.

21. Being told that my wedding ring is flawed. And, not just that - but also that in mere days the main stone will crack in half and fall out of my setting. That was fun! :) As it turns out, the company that sold me my ring is no longer in business. But, it also turns out that my ring is still perfectly in tact - go figure.

And finally:

22. Our first home improvement project. - Our tile floor.

This list didn't turn out nearly as bad as I'd thought when I first started writing this post! Hehe...I'm practically half way to the 52 I'd originally wanted.

Anyone know of any firsts I did last year that aren't listed already?

These are a few (hundred) of my favorite things...

2009-01-01T15:33:00.002-06:00

This is my 200th blog post! I thought I'd give you a list of 200 of my favorite things just in case you're having trouble sleeping later tonight. Happy New Year!

1. God (First things first!)
2. Micah
3. family
4. friends (The rest are in no particular order!)
5. rainy days
6. showers
7. painted toe nails
8. chocolate
9. spin dip
10. going out to dinner
11. getting flowers
12. curling up with a good book
13. my bread maker
14. flex days at work
15. sleeping in
16. listening to the rain while sleeping in :)
17. chips and salsa
18. crab legs
19. playing games
20. having freezer meals ready to eat
21. grocery shopping
22. crossing things off a list
23. my agenda
24. hugs
25. nieces and nephews to spoil
26. St. Patrick's Day
27. my marriage
28. down comforters
29. taco salad
30. tilapia
31. stationary
32. collecting scrapbook supplies
33. pretty dishes
34. sending snail mail
35. receiving snail mail
36. back rubs
37. tickling my husband
38. being productive
39. string cheese
40. Dr. Pepper
41. getting a bargain
42. organizing things
43. watching movies
44. my birthday
45. Christmas fondue
46. wearing my pedometer
47. all office supplies
48. chocolate chip cookies
49. mint chocolate chip ice cream
50. making lists :)
51. having people over
52. road trips
53. Kansas Bible Camp
54. setting goals
55. cooking for others – not necessarily my own family!
56. Romans 8: 38-39
57. learning/hearing about pregnancy
58. egg burritos
59. Micah rubbing my head
60. chocolate ice cream and milk
61. guacamole
62. Lawrence
63. Date night
64. Nebraska Furniture Mart
65. stickers
66. eggies in a basket
67. rewarding myself
68. blogging
69. taking links off our paper chain
70. bread with dipping oil
71. sidewalk chalk
72. Excedrin Migraine
73. river rocks
74. terry cloth bathrobes
75. salad bars
76. calla lillies
77. world map shower curtains
78. Edgar Allen Poe
79. Redeeming Love, by Francine Rivers
80. Qdoba
81. strawberries
82. a new notebook
83. swing dancing
84. pocket sized kleenex packets
85. Old Navy flip flops before they changed and became sucky
86. jean skirts
87. a clean house
88. Kool-aid
89. Mike's Hard Berry
90. a detailed car (done by Micah!)
91. The Franz Family
92. Long Island Ice Tea
93. pillows
94. Maraschino cherries
95. sushi
96. Using coupons at Bed Bath and Beyond
97. tulips
98. having people shop at my house
99. mac and cheese with lots of milk (so it's runny)
100. Sonic ice
101. Sonic Happy Hour
102. $12 dates to The Texas Roadhouse
103. elliptical machines with TV's attached
104. HGTV
105. Numb3rs
106. Spades
107. burning candles
108. Jason's Deli
109. Chicago
110. Wicked, the musical
111. fabric softner
112. body spray
113. Rich Mullins
114. lunch dates
115. green
116. flower pens
117. Suduko
118. Dirty Dancing, the movie
119. Pretty Woman, the movie
120. cuddling
121. laughing until it hurts
122. M&M's
123. the $2 theater
124. deviled eggs
125. Mom's potato salad
126. sweater weather
127. Spring
128. candy pumpkins
129. Aerosmith's Janie's Got a Gun...sung by Matt
130. making worms out of paper straw wrappers and water
131. small group
132. crock pots that don’t burn things
133. steamed veggies
134. my friend Nicole
135. Operation Christmas Child
136. Getting out of Debt
137. Hearing my phone ring
138. Girls night out
139. blue
140. my husband’s baldness
141. cocoa almonds
142. The book of James
143. not having to fill up my car with gas (my hubby does it!)
144. 1960’s mustangs
145. cheese dip
146. the word fungible
147. giving fun gifts
148. Boo Mama
149. My hubby’s writing
150. beating Micah at games
151. going on adventures
152. free wireless internet
153. chicken chimichangas
154. Panera
155. my new hair cut
156. comfortable shoes
157. Big Macs
158. Dave Ramsey
159. Getting paid over time
160. surprising people
161. a bug-free house
162. holding babies
163. Scripture songs
164. hot pink clipboards
165. my kitchen floor
166. watching election day results on TV
167. potato cheese soup
168. Super DG
169. Mocha Kickers
170. Google Chat
171. Scotland Yard, board game
172. If You Say Go
173. Recycling
174. Purses
175. Jewelry
176. Bandanas
177. inside jokes
178. wedding cake
179. potato cheese soup
180. dry erase boards
181. my 8’ bamboo ladder
182. books on tape
183. fun checks
184. going on walks
185. ski-ball
186. French onion dip
187. Post-It Notes
188. caramel
189. Chick flicks
190. really buttery popcorn
191. Richard Gere
192. Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock together
193. Crayons
194. Business Law
195. fun stamps
196. reading blogs
197. my husband’s sense of humor
198. my house
199. my dad’s barbeque
200. Being done with this list

2008-12-05T18:30:00.000-06:00

I found a link on my husband's blog recently that took me to Dale's blog (which, I've never actually read yet, sorry!) that took me to this link, which I really enjoy!

Go check it out, and that'll explain that first sentence. :) Also, I cannot promise the absence of off-color content, though I've not seen any.

House Projects, revisited

2008-11-11T17:04:00.003-06:00

A little over a year ago, I posted this list about the things I wanted to do around our house. First off, can you BELIEVE it's been a year (and a third!) since we moved into our house? Craziness!

Of the list I posted, the things we have finished are:
Buying a new couch and love seat set for our front room
Replacing the kitchen floor
Painting the kitchen

But, the list of things I never got to is even larger!!:
Buying end tables/coffee table for the living room
Buying end tables/coffee table for the family room
Getting electrical work done (like updating outlets, and adding a few outlets and fixtures)
Buying a new kitchen table
Painting the livingroom
Painting my scrapbook room
Painting the stairway

What have I learned from this?

To be content. There are some things, like the end tables and stairway that I really wish would have been done a long time ago.

But just think how excited I will be once they get finished - how sweet long-awaited gifts are!

Also, now that I've had a year to think on it, there are some things that I've realized aren't really that important. For instance, I don't really need a coffee table in either of our living areas. In the upstairs one, we have a huge ottoman, and I have a piece of furniture that would work perfectly for a coffee table downstairs.

Also, I'm not really in a hurry to paint my scrapbook room or the livingroom - maybe the eggshell color is beginning to grow on me!! (Which, those of you who know me personally will agree, is a blessing all in itself - since I could use a bit of color! ;-))

All this to say: I have a new list but I definitely won't be disappointed if the progress is slow in coming.

What things are you gals working on lately?

To quote Alan Jackson...

2008-11-04T06:00:00.000-06:00

"I'm not a real political [wo]man...", but, did you know that the leader of our country is being chosen today?!

I very rarely watch television. In fact, the only time I watch anything is when I'm at my mom and dad's house because we don't have cable at mine! But, I LOVE watching as all the votes are tallied, and the new totals are presented. So, Mom, I guess I should tell you that I'm planning on being over at your house this evening! :)

Please pray about which candidates (for the big and small offices) the Lord would have you vote for. Then pray that regardless of who gets picked, they would be open to the Lord's leading in their lives.

Happy Election Day!

Are you needing a pick me up?

2008-11-02T12:00:00.000-06:00

I was sick last Sunday and missed my grandpa's 80th birthday party. I had been looking forward to getting to see all of my mother's family. But instead, I spent the whole day in bed alternating between reading and sleeping - and that was nice too.

One of the thing I really enjoyed doing was getting caught up on reading some blogs I had gotten behind on.

There was Laurel and her honest plea for prayer as she learned to be still, followed by a post about a discovery that blessed her heart.

There was Rachel and her sweet posts about her 2.5 year old, and her teaching (Rachel, I know you probably wouldn't call that post "teaching" - but for someone who couldn't make it to church, it really met a need) on the mundane moments in life.

And, if you're needing to gain a perspective on where you are in life right now, I suggest you head on over to Mama M's Place. This dear mother of 6 seems to look at every busy day, every crazy "uh-oh" as just another blessing of motherhood.

Thanks ladies, for making a sick day not so bad after all.

How do YOU compute?

2008-10-30T17:00:00.000-05:00

I've only had my laptop for about 2 to 2.5 years, and already the battery is shot, it has a line down the screen, and it regularly overheats.

So, as much as I hate it, I'm looking into buying a new computer so that when this one dies I'll know what I want to replace it with.

But, I can't get passed the Laptop vs. Desk top debate in my head.

Price really isn't the issue, cause I feel like we'd spend about the same amount on whatever computer I get. But, what if you compare the cost to the amount of time it will last you? Desk tops last a lot longer than laptops.

But, what if it's the portability that I want?! There are very few things I love more than curling up in bed with my laptop to chat and catch up on blogs.

What's a girl to do?

What do you use? What would you suggest? I've done another poll. Please let me know what you think the best course of action is! :)

Please pray

2008-10-28T18:00:00.001-05:00

My cousin Amy just found out recently that she is pregnant with her third child. She's only about 10 weeks along, and went in for a check up on Friday. At the check up, they realized that she's partially dilated.

If you could, please pray for her family and for this little one.

I'll update you with more information as I get it.

Thanks, and have a wonderful Tuesday evening!

My most brilliant and offensive idea

2008-10-26T11:00:00.000-05:00

Did you know that you can make human corpses into diamonds? It's true! I wouldn't joke about this sort of thing.

Ok, so I totally would, and do, joke about this all the time...but it's still true that it can be done!

So, naturally, my dear hubby and I have talked about turning his body into a diamond for me to wear after he's gone.

And, not for the normal sentimental reasons that you might think.

No, it's much more brilliant than that!

In 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 (compliments of Biblegateway.com) it says:

15According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

Did you catch that? And the dead in Christ will rise first. In that line lies my whole argument.

You see, if my husband precedes me in death, and then is made into a diamond for me to wear, then I will know before every other living being (if only for a split second) that Christ has returned.

Of course, this whole argument falls apart if you read this verse to mean what I think it probably means, which is that all the living will probably know that the dead are being raised because of the "load command."But that doesn't fit very well with our joke, now does it?

So, there you have it, my ~~brilliant~~ hole-ridden and horribly offensive idea!

*Please note that this is a joke, and not a post to encourage large theological debates.

"And He walks with me..."

2008-10-15T19:00:00.000-05:00

This devotion appeared in the October e-mail from Kansas Bible Camp, and it definitely found me right where I am. It's a great way to look at our christian walk. Hope you find something to take from it and apply to your life.

A message from God's Word
There are three expressions in the Bible concerned with our walk that may be helpful to think about.
1. Deuteronomy 13:4, "Ye shall walk after the Lord your God." Walking AFTER God tells us we have a leader; Someone walking ahead of us. In the New Testament we are admonished to become "Followers of God as dear children," He is our example. The expression "walking after the Lord" is found three times in the Old Testament.
2. "Walk BEFORE me and be thou perfect" said God to Abraham. David commented: "I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living." Walking BEFORE the Lord reminds us that God is our interested observer. We are always in His sight and He is interested in what we do. He observes us, not as a critic, but as a loving parent observes his little toddler. Every step is observed with love, pride, and gentle care. Every improvement is noted and encouraged.
3. Noah and Enoch are said to have walked "with God". We can only walk WITH people with whom we agree: Can two walk together except they be agreed? Two can walk together only if they have the same goal, take the same path, progress at the same speed, and adjust to each other.
You and I are also called upon to walk with the Lord. Our lives must conform to His plans for us. Our path must conform to His word. Today, more than ever in the history of the church of God, we need youth who will walk after the Lord. We need youth who will walk before the Lord and youth who will walk with the Lord. How are you walking?
- Richard Burson, KBC Intercom January 1973

To Load or Unload...

2008-10-12T19:25:00.001-05:00

That is the question.

I've put up a survey to the right of this post, because I'm curious to know:

Would you rather unload the dishwasher, or load it?

I HATE loading the dishwasher, but I don't mind unloading it. My mom is completely opposite. She would rather load.

I always thought this was a strange, but handy, difference between us. But, I was never under the illusion that it was normal until I read this post of Brooke's.

What about you? Do you love unloading? like loading? hate both equally?

Let me know!

The gift that keeps giving

2008-10-07T12:00:00.000-05:00

Micah and I are been married for 3.5 years now! Micah says he cannot believe it's been that long. He says it feels like it was only yesterday.

I, on the other hand, feel like we've always been married. Don't get me wrong. That's not a joke about "the longest years of my life," but more a realization that it feels so right to be married to Micah, that life before being married to him pales in comparison.

So, imagine my surprise, when I find these:

Along with several other wedding gifts while going through stuff at my mom's house. I didn't even know we had these!

So, thanks to whoever gave these to us over 3.5 years ago. They have brought me such joy!

And, thanks, Micah, for spending the last 3.5 years with me. I know it may seem hard to imagine at times, but you bring my even more joy than my pretty striped dishes!

The Lord's Provision

2008-10-04T08:00:00.000-05:00

I've blogged a few times about things I've found in my textbooks back in my school days. But, I've never got around to this one.

In McGraw-Hill/Irwin's Legal Aspects of the Business Organization I found another one of these such things on page 992 that was truly a gift from the Lord.

The topic at hand is incorporation. There's a term called "corporation by estoppel" which basically means that if someone holds them self out to be acting on behalf of a corporation, then the court will "estop" him from denying the existence of the corporation. This is to protect third parties from thinking they're dealing with a corporation, when really they're not, or vice versa.

Anyway, the funny part comes when the book starts discussing liability for defective incorporation. It states:

If people attempt to organize a corporation but their efforts are so defective that not even a corporation by estoppel is found to exist, the courts have generally held such persons to be partners with unlimited liability for the contracts and torts of the business.

And, all I've got to say is, if people who want to be incorporated can't even MAKE THEMSELVES OUT TO BE incorporated, then they deserve full liability!

Hehe...I realize most of you won't think this is funny - but I sure do!

Have a fabulous Saturday!

Everyone should know someone

2008-10-01T20:00:00.001-05:00

Like our friend Nicole.

Several months Micah and I got a chance to play Apples to Apples with a few of our friends. One of these friends is a 13 year old named Nicole, and she is HILARIOUS!

I realize that Apples to Apples is the type of game that is only funny at the time, and only to the people who are playing. So, I'm sure this won't be funny to all of you. But, to those of you who know Nicole, I hope this brightens your day!

Here are a few of the quotes from the game:

"Does it make you as hot as poodles? That is the question."

"Oooo eeee! Nama nama nama! 1,2,3,4,5,6!" - Nicole in reference to Boyfriends

"That's fake...not unless they put a bomb in your underwear...that's fake." in reference to Spontaneous Combustion

"The bust up word" - later on in reference to Spontaneous Combustion. She can't actually say it correctly, but Spontaneous Combustion is her new favorite phrase.

On the Challenger Explosion card, there is a poem that reads: "Without a wish, without a will, I stood upon that silent hill and stared into the sky - Ralph Hodgson" and when I finished reading it out loud, Nicole chimed in with: "and blew up"

"The Bumb up word...I'm gunna have to learn that one"

"It's my favorite word now, But I still can't say it"

"This is going to be a nasty one...but it might be tasty to some people." in reference to olive oil

And the last one I'll leave you with:
"The dump? Now, what kind you guys talking? The trash can kind?...Micah, you're over there turning purple!"

Photo O.O.T.T.W.I.L.A.T.Q.A.Y.A.Y.H.T.F.I.T.A.B.C.A.P.I.A.N.D.A.E.T.T.Y.F.S.A.H

2008-09-28T20:00:00.000-05:00

Laurel did this thing on her blog a LONG while ago. I don't normally like these O.O.T.T.W.I.L.A.T.Q.A.Y.A.Y.H.T.F.I.T.A.B.C.A.P.I.A.N.D.A.E.T.T.Y.F.S.A.H things. Mostly it's because I never know what to call them!! :) But also because they're all the same.

But, this one is kind of cute.

Here's how it works: Figure out your answers for each of the below questions. Put your answer into a Google image search. Grab the first interesting image for each answer, and post the images on your blog. I won't be tagging anyone cause if you wanted to do ityou probably would if I tagged you or not!

Hope you enjoy!

1. The age you will be on your next birthday
2. A place to which you'd like to travel

3. Your favorite place
4. Your favorite person

5. Your favorite food

6. Your favorite animal

7. The town in which you were born

8. The name of a past pet

9. The first name of a past love

10. Your favorite color

11. Your first name
This is a picture of MAGEN's Bay. Spelled "right" and everything! Isn't that cool?!? :)

12. Your middle name

13. Your last name

The view from my front porch

2008-09-25T19:00:00.000-05:00

OK. I am aware that it is totally lame to talk about the odd trees you have growing in your yard on your blog (Or anywhere for that matter!).
And, I am aware that twice merits loss of readership, but I can't help it!

Today, I found the most interesting thing when I looked out my window!

I don't aspire to be a great photographer like my friend Rachel, so you probably can't tell from this picture....But, there is a branch growing out from the middle of this huge long trunk! You're probably thinking, "yes, Magen, tree branches normally do grow from tree trunks," and you'd be justified in thinking this. But, this is a very old tree. And, all the other branches that bear leaves are WAY higher than this new, small twig. And, there are no other small twigs like this. It's very odd to me.

But, if you look closer at the twig...Its leaves have already started turning!!

Did it just sprout out with autumn leaves? This is very perplexing to me. One day, there's no sprout there at all, and the next day there's one that's already dying!!

But, at any rate, I love fall. And, in my yard at least, it's beginning to look a lot like fall, ya'll!

My dear friend Joy...

2008-09-17T13:00:00.001-05:00

has a grandma who lives in Texas. Her name is Gloria and a few weeks ago she was attacked in her home. You can read the initial post, and also a couple updates on her blog. Please keep this dear lady in your prayers.

On a much happier note, Joy also has some super fun stamps for sell on her site, Apple Blossom Studios! AND, she has several very talented scrappers showing off her wonderful products regularly on her blog. Go check it out!! To get there, just follow the super fun link that I just added on the right hand side of my blog!

OH, and while you're there, check out her stamp called "Inksy Daisies"...I named it myself!

2 Days shy of a month!

2008-09-01T12:41:00.004-05:00

Seeing as how we're rapidly approaching the one month mark since my last post, I figured I'd give you a nice Labor Day treat!

I am laying in bed with my computer and The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey and alternating between it and blogs. What a wonderful Labor Day!

Anyway, I've been trying to catch up on reading my friend Joanne's blog when I came across this post. And, I have to say, you're not going to believe this, Joanne!

But, I too use a NASB Study Bible (in burgundy bonded-leather).
And, I too have my first and middle name on it.
And, I too bought it when I was 18.
I too knew that I would be marrying my dear hubby.
I too thought it would be too early to put his name on my Bible, but thought it was a waste to put my maiden name on it when it'd soon be out of date.

Isn't that weird?! :)

It made my day! Hope you have a good holiday!

I don't know about you....

2008-08-03T19:40:00.000-05:00

but I pride myself in celebrating safely and with class!!

This past year when the Jayhawks went to the Final Four, Bill Self himself (hehe, yes, I meant to do that) sent this e-mail out to all the students:

Dear Jayhawk fans:

Thank you for all your fantastic support again this year. Jayhawk fans are truly the greatest and there is no place better to play basketball than Allen Fieldhouse -- although San Antonio on Saturday will be close!

We wish you all could be with us Saturday, but we know you will be there in spirit. No matter where you are, please look out for each other, know your own limits and be safe.

Show the world that Jayhawks are class acts on and off the court! Celebrate safely.

Then later, after they made it to the championship game, we all received this e-mail:

Dear Jayhawk fans--
We heard you in San Antonio! The team played a really great game and
back in Lawrence and Allen Fieldhouse, Jayhawk fans were equally
incredible. It was terrific that so many people cheered us on and
afterward celebrated safely.

Tonight, we know you will be with us in spirit when we take on Memphis.
And again, please look out for each other when you go out tonight, know
your own limits and be safe.

Let's show the nation again why Jayhawk fans are the greatest.
CELEBRATE SAFELY....AND WITH CLASS!

These e-mails struck me as pretty hilarious. I wasn't one to party and drink and drink and party while in college (But now that I'm out...just kidding!). But I imagine that if I were the type, a mass e-mail from Bill Self (or more likely, his secretary) telling me to to act responsibly would not have changed my actions one bit.

But, they're still fun to read.

Tax Class

2008-07-31T19:00:00.000-05:00

Here's yet another post I've been meaning to make for an eternity, but am just now getting around to doing! :)

In my tax textbook, (I told you it was old!!) Prentice Hall's Federal Taxation 2008 for Individuals, it has a paragraph on the bottom of page 13-7 that reads:

Step 3: If a net Sec. 1231 gain is the result of Step 2, determine if the taxpayer has any nonrecaptured net Sec. 1231 losses. Nonrecaptured net Sec. 1231 losses are the excess of aggregate net Sec. 1231 losses for the preceding five years over losses previously recaptured as ordinary income due to the recapture provision of Sec. 1231. Net Sec. 1231 gains to the extent of any nonrecaptured net Sec. 1231 losses are treated as ordinary income. Sec. 1231 gain that is unrecaptured Sec. 1250 gain is first treated as ordinary income to the extent of nonrecaptured net Sec. 1231 losses. Any net Sec. 1231 gain in excess of nonrecaptured net Sec. 1231 loss is treated as a LTCG.

And now you know why I had a semester-long headache!

Hope you're week is going well!

It's amazing what people can find....

2008-07-26T12:00:00.000-05:00

when Google leads them to me!

I have a site meter on this here blog, and one of my favorite Saturday morning pass times is to look through the "referral pages" to see how people got to my blog. One of my other favorite Saturday morning pass times is eating the delicious breakfast my husband made! But, that's neither here nor there.

Since I haven't blogged in MONTHS, the majority of those referrals come from people who have googled in hopes of finding something useful.

For instance, one person googled "Christmas Trees 2007" and saw this! I'm sure that person has added my family to their prayer list.

Others have googled "tile floor" and have been greeted with a tile floor picture I posted for you all as an example of what I was wanting. This is kind of funny to me, because I got that picture through a Google image search, and it's humorous to think that now I've stolen the traffic that someone else used to be getting.

Then there are things I find that really hit home. Like, this post about 1 Corinthians 15. It's such an encouragement to my heart.

I hope you all are encouraged this Saturday morning with whatever it is you're up to!

I'm off to clean my disorderly house, but before I do: does anyone else find it funny that we can now use the word "google" as a verb and no one thinks anything of it?! :)

My 2 cents

2008-06-03T12:00:00.000-05:00

In the last few weeks of school, I was needing to study every waking moment.

I stopped meeting with the women's leadership in our church. We stopped having social time with our friends. Micah even made me stop doing housework of any kind so that I could completely focus on school.

One of the bottle necks is my studying was finding a good place to study. I can't study very long at home because I get distracted with the other things to do there, including sleeping! So, I thought the chain bookstore here in town would be the perfect solution. They have plenty of tables to study at, there is a coffee shop attached, they're open late, and they have wireless internet.

So, I went one Sunday afternoon, and started to settle in for what promised to be several long hours of studying. Only, I couldn't connect to the internet.

Most people would probably say that I don't need the internet to sit and study for hours, but they'd be wrong. Sure, I may not need it for the actual work. But, I most certainly do need internet for my SANITY.

You see, if I can't have some sort of distraction (in the form of a chat client or a blog to read) I wouldn't last more than an hour. But, give me wireless internet, and I could sit and be VERY productive studying for hours on end, because I would get interaction with other people at regular intervals, which I crave.

So, imagine my shock and dismay when I realized that the bookstore charges $3.99 for 2 hours of wireless internet! 2 hours is NOT going to cut it!

I should clarify, that I'm NOT against spending money. They provide a service, and I'm more than willing to pay for the ability to sit in their establishment and get things done. Normally, I would spend anywhere between 3 and 10 dollars on drinks and food in order to feel like I wasn't treating them unjustly.

But, I am not willing to pay for internet usage when I could pay the same amount and enjoy a tasty coffee drink for the same price and get free internet usage to boot!

So, while I would have liked to have the variety in my studying, I decided to stick with the local coffee shop instead.

Oh, and have I mentioned lately that I'm DONE WITH SCHOOL?! It's SO nice to not have to study!

But, I do enjoy a place to sit and work on projects from time to time. In fact, I am sitting at the local coffee shop right now enjoying a blended mocha and wireless internet, and it's wonderful.

Pictures of my IN HOUSE work station coming soon, compliments of my friend Shawna!

You know you're a grown-up when...

2008-06-02T20:00:00.000-05:00

A man in our church met us at our car this past Sunday morning when we pulled up at 8:30am. He greeted us with, "we just said the closing prayer!" I think he was joking that we missed church, when really he was referring to the prayer group that meets at the church every Sunday morning from 8:00-8:30am.

It reminded me of something I meant to post about a long while ago!

Micah and I were late for music practice at the last Day Light Saving time change, not because we forgot to change our clocks, but because NO ONE TOLD US TO.

I couldn't even believe it. Normally everyone and their moms, and I do mean OUR moms, remind us.

I guess this is just further proof that we're expected to be a self-sufficient unit.

Bummer! :)

Please show the audience what's behind door number 3

2008-06-02T08:00:00.001-05:00

A couple of months ago my car was making some funny noises.

I'm sure you can imagine me on the phone with a couple of car places trying to replicate the sound for the man on the other end of the line.

I'm sure each of them mocked me later.

I eventually got the problem fixed in exchange for a pretty penny or two, but what struck me was the difference in my options of auto-repair places.

Option 1 was Chain Guy. This is the company that you could find in most any American city. Their price reflects the name recognition that they hold, but you know what you can expect from their work, much like how you know the McDonald's across the nation will look exactly like the one down the street from your house. It's predictable.

And, it's convenient. It's close to your home and they provide rides back to your house while your car is being worked on.

Option 2 was Dealer Guy. Normally, your best bet is to steer clear of these places because they tend to be quite a bit pricier than even Chain Guy. But, something I discovered is that, the price difference is all in the labor. The ideal situation would be to buy the part (assuming you know what part you need - which is a big assumption in a story involving me!) from Dealer Guy and take it elsewhere for installation.

Option 3 was Local Guy. Whenever possible, I'm a sucker for the local business over the chain business. And, because Local Guy isn't paying franchise dues, you can bet that his price for labor is cheaper. However, one thing that surprised me in my research is that his price for the part was also cheaper.

So, it's a win-win situation. Option 3 would be picked every time, right?

Only, imagine that you went to Option 1 for an oil change, and they've already got your car torn apart, know exactly what's wrong with it, and could potentially charge you a portion of the labor
in payment for figuring what was wrong with it.

Further imagine that Local Guy is a fair distance from home, and it the problem could be made worse by taking your car on the trek across down. Oh, and also, you would need a ride because Local Guy's shop isn't the best place for a 20-something girl to hang out in.

So, what's a girl supposed to do? Clearly from the facts, we chose to go with Chain Guy, because in this situation, the dice were stacked against us. And, even though I would probably rather go to Local Guy 9 times out of 10, I got REALLY good service from Chain Guy.

In fact, I got such good service from Chain Guy, I'm inclined to go back for each oil change, even if it costs me a few extra dollars.

How do you guys handle this situation? Do you have hubbies that do all that work themselves? Do you have a favorite place to go?

New Furniture

2008-06-01T17:00:00.000-05:00

Our church has 2 teams this year for a sand volleyball league! They met for practice this last week, and it was great fun to hang out with everyone while I watched!

This is my mommy in her new outfit for volleyball. Isn't she cute?!

You may be thinking, "what on earth does this have to do with new furniture?!"

And, if you are thinking that, you probably don't know me very well. Cause, those that DO know me well know that when I tell a story I have to start WAY back at the beginning.

I've been promising to post pictures of my furniture so that people could help me figure out how to arrange it in our living room. But, as it turns out, it's taken me so long to get pictures up, that I actually know how I want it.

Which is totally due to the fact that our friend Jonathan volunt to come over and move 2 pieces of furniture after volley ball practice on Wednesday.

This is him (in red) next to my hubby (in orange) at practice.

NOW do you see the connection? Hehe...OK, there's not really a connection at all.

That's all the pictures I'm going to post of this last week of volleyball, but my dear friend Rachel has posted a few more pictures of the actual volleyball action, if you're in to that sort of thing. ("That sort of thing" being pictures that actually relate to the topic at hand.)

Anyway, back to the furniture situation! Jonathan brought his wife and kids to our house after volleyball practice so that he could help my hubby move furniture.

At the time, I thought I only had a book shelf and a T.V. stand to move from downstairs, but
as it turns out, I also had a shelving unit and a hope chest that would work better downstairs, and "needed" to move my living room around at least 3 times before I got something I liked.

I kept brainstorming out loud thinking the other adults in the room could tell me whether a certain configuration would look right. "What do you think it would look like if we moved the couch against this wall, the love seat in it's place, and then the bookshelf on the other wall...and..."

And, Mr. Cheerful (Jonathan) would simply say, "well, let's just see what it looks like!" It was really funny to his wife and I, but Micah was a bit worn out! Which, I'm not all too certain, wasn't Jonathan's motive. :)

But, all is done, and I think I like the arrangement. You'll have to use your imagination on the pictures; I couldn't quite get it all in. And, my video camera doesn't have a flash.

And now, I can cross "posting furniture pictures" off my to-do list. How's that for taking the title of my blog to heart?!