March Date Night

Thought I should post this before the month is over. For our March date night we went to dinner at one of our favorite little downtown places, and then to the symphony. The mass we heard was beautiful - what a wonderful way to reflect glory to God. Amazing that the church used to worship that way all the time! The amount of practice and dedication it took to perform the mass was incredible, and I'm so glad we were able to share it together. I loved being in a secular environment but hearing the entire story of God's love and plan for mankind.

And the Gent and I realized how much we love the arts. We love to go to the art museums, the ballet, the symphony, plays, the opera . . . any time we can get a great deal on tickets, that is. We love football and baseball, too. Does that make us weird or well-rounded?

Anyway, hurrah for a great date night!

Miss Me?

For those of you who missed me, I'm back now. We took a weekend trip to Cincinnati to see some dear friends! We had a wonderful, refreshing weekend and enjoyed reconnecting. It was so nice to get away for a short while and spend time with those we love. Jenn and I have been friends since high school; we've been through lots of ups and downs already and I can't wait to see where the next chapter of our friendship takes us. And Jenn is a great photographer with a really cool camera (I admit, I am jealous). She took some adorable photos for us.

Our weekend, in pictures:

Amazing breakfast at a neighborhood cafe


Tiramisu French Toast = little taste of heaven


Our delightful hosts


We took all five dogs to the part for a long walk, then family photos, yay!


Their husky girls, who were nice enough to host our boys, too!


My sweetheart


Zeke


Nick


Huck


Out to dinner at The Rookwood


My Jenn! Thanks for a lovely weekend!

Ideas?

I have picked out my graduation present. No, I'm not the one graduating from school - I'm graduating from being the breadwinner! And for that, we decided I deserve a prize. :)



Isn't it beautiful? I love Lisa Leonard's jewelry. You can check out more of her designs here.

This necklace n is a custom piece, so I am trying to decide what I want written on it! I want a word or phrase that symbolizes our family and faith - suggestions? Considering "faithful" or "cherish" . . . other ideas? Help, please!

Little Things

Sometimes it's just the little things that make me happy.

A clean house.

A checkbook that reconciles with the bank statement and the budget spreadsheet, down to the penny.

A wonderful husband who made dinner tonight because I had to work late (again).



I think he did pretty good! Here's the recipe for Spanish Tortilla if you want to give it a try.

1 T olive oil
1 1/2 pounds potatoes, peeled and diced
1 large onion, chopped
1 large bell pepper, chopped
4 oz ham, chopped
1/2 t dried oregano
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
8 large eggs
Heat oven to 350. Heat oil in 10 inch ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add potatoes and onion; saute 5 minutes or until potatoes are just tender. Add chopped pepper and ham, oregano, salt, and pepper. Cook 3 minutes or until peppers are just tender. Whisk eggs in medium bowl; pour into skillet, shaking pan a bit to distribute evenly. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, until center is set. Let stand two minutes.

Birthday Recap

In pictures:

Scrumptious chocolate layer cake, baked by my talented hubby


New dress and shoes picked out by the Gent!


Isn't he great?


Springtime flowers


Headed out for dinner (notice the new dress!)

Happy Birthday to Me!

How I Spent My Week

I feel like I have been so busy lately. In the interest of figuring out where the time goes, I kept a log of what I did this past week. If you really want to know what I do all day every day, read on.

Saturday
Slept in till 9
Watched an hour of HGTV and answered email, read blogs
Ate yummy pancakes (thanks, hubby!)
Sorted mail
Walked dogs
Shower
Blogged
Went shopping and ran errands
Made baked ziti for dinner
Spent evening with the Gent

Sunday
Went to church, taught our Twos class
Took a looooooooooooooooong nap :)
Did laundry
Balanced two checkbooks
Paid bills
Updated budget spreadsheet
Called Sports Clips because the charge on hubby's haircut never went through
Tried to help the Gent deal with the cable company
Spent an hour answering dog rescue email
Blogged
Arranged flowers for my centerpiece
Wrapped gifts for a baby shower and a friend in the hospital
Spent time with the puppies
Trimmed the Gent's hair
Washed and cut up fruits and veggies for the week - grapes, carrots, tomatoes, lettuce
Put chicken in the fridge to thaw for dinner Monday
Made lunch for Monday and set up coffee maker
Did some mending, replaced buttons, etc

Monday
Walked dogs with the Gent
Did Bible study
Left for work at 6:30am and returned at 5:30pm
Had terrible work day
Composed "I'm fed up" letter to boss
Did not send letter
Called pest control
Bought new eyebrow pencil during lunch break
Read John Piper's A Strange and Bitter Providence during lunch break
Sorted mail
Brushed dogs
Made lunch for Tuesday and set up coffee maker
Cleaned kitchen
Vacuumed
Dry swiffered and mopped the tile floors
Baked wheat bread and artisan bread
Put ground turkey in fridge to thaw for chili Wednesday
Blogged
Spent an hour answering dog rescue email
Shower
Ate an entire pint of gourmet ice cream

Tuesday
The Gent walked dogs
Did Bible study
Left for work at 6:30am and returned at 6:15pm
Took lots of deep breaths and tried not to be stressed out at work
Read Allison Pittman's Saturdays with Stella during lunch break
Returned books to library
Sorted mail and filled out census form
Gave instructions for dinner to the Gent as I was driving home late from work (thanks for cooking, love!): chicken with bread crumbs, Italian seasoning, Parmesan, and cherry tomatoes, artisan bread I baked Monday, and okra
Blogged
Spent 30 minutes doing dog rescue work
Dusted
The Gent cleaned the bathrooms
Hurrah the house is (was) clean!
Prepped chili for dinner tomorrow
Made lunch for Wednesday and set up coffee maker
Washed sheets for guest bed

Wednesday
Did Bible study
Did weight training
Put chili in crock pot for dinner
Mailed census form
Left for work at 6:30am and returned at 6:15pm
Read Paul Lockhart's A Mathematician's Lament on lunch break
Spent about 45 minutes doing dog rescue work
Ate chili with husband and little brother, who was in town doing some job interviews
Blogged
Made lunch for Thursday and set up coffee maker
Shower
Finally had an hour to sit and do nothing

Thursday
Did Bible study
Left for work at 6:30am
Started reading Walter Wangerin's Father and Son at lunch
Left work in the afternoon for a dentist appointment
Met with a foster family from the dog rescue
Ran errands
Sorted mail
Walked the dogs
Spent 30 minutes or so doing dog rescue work
Set up coffee maker for Friday
Rearranged bookcases
Ordered a birthday gift online
Relaxed for an hour before bed

Friday
Walked dogs with the Gent
Did Bible study
Left for work at 6:30am and returned at 5:20pm
Met the Gent for lunch
Sorted mail
Spent about an hour doing dog rescue work
Blogged this long post!
Now I am going to make dinner and get ready to celebrate my birthday weekend!

Work, Updated

Work is fine, I guess. I can stick it out another four to five months. Patience has never been one of my strong points. I still have lots of learning to do in this area.

In the meantime, I came into work Tuesday and this was my Dilbert tear-off calendar for the day:
Wally's keynote speech: The source of all unhappiness is other people. The sooner you learn to think of other people as noisy furniture the sooner you will be happy.
Heckler: That's the stupidest advice I've ever heard!
Wally: Hey, it's a talking ottoman! Hee-hee!

On a more serious note, I'm meditating over these verses:

1 Peter 5:7
Cast all your anxieties on Him because He cares for you.

Psalm 27:13-14
I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
Be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.

What to Say

After experiencing a miscarriage, I thought I'd share what helped us and what has not. Because of the prevalence of miscarriage, it is likely that you have or will have a friend experiencing this devastating loss.

Do:
Pray. Pray unceasingly. Pray for comfort, understanding, peace, healing. Intercede before Almighty God for your loved ones.

Acknowledge. Say, or better yet, write. You don't have to say much. Just say "I'm sorry and I'm praying for you." All your friend needs is for you to acknowledge her baby's life and her (and her husband's) pain. That's all you have to do - it's not complicated. Two dear friends from work sent me a bouquet of daisies, and I really appreciated that, too. It was a visual acknowledgment that the pain we felt was real and merited and that our baby's life mattered.

Offer. Let your friend know you are there if she and her husband need anything. But don't push.

Remember. Don't forget too soon. The grieving time will be different for every couple, but they will appreciate knowing that you haven't forgotten about their baby and their loss. I still get an email from time to time, just saying "I was thinking about you and I'm praying for you." Friends from church stop me or my husband and say, "I just wanted you to know we're praying for you." Those little reminders mean a lot.

Respect. Respect your friend's wishes. Some people grieve privately, some want the whole world to know. Respect whatever way your friend wants to grieve. Don't push them to grieve the way you would. Unless you've been there before, you can never understand the loss your friend is experiencing.

Don't:
Don't say stupid stuff, like it will get better (how do you know?), you can have other babies (but other babies won't be this baby), this is a blessing because something was wrong with the baby (all life is valuable, not just perfect life). I am so thankful no one said these hurtful things to us.

Don't say you understand unless you have lost a child, because you don't. But if you have experienced a miscarriage or loss of a child, share that with your friend. It was so encouraging to me to have women come around me and say "I'm so sorry. I've been there, too." Because I could look at their lives and see that they survived, God carried them through, God is faithful.

Don't preach. Don't talk about God's will. This is not the time for theological discussions. If you have to say anything, say "I don't know why this happened. But I know that God is faithful. And He loves you."

Work

If you've spent any time around me the past couple of weeks you would know I am getting increasingly frustrated in my job. Really, really frustrated. Like, ready to quit and every day is miserable frustrated.

So the question is . . .

What am I supposed to do with this frustration?

After I vent, of course, I pray. Are there still lessons God wants me to learn in this situation?

Is it time to explore other employment options? It certainly sounds appealing, but the practical considerations soon weigh in - yes I could take a pay cut, but I have to have health insurance, and we are moving in five months, what could I find to do for such a short time . . . and on and on it goes.

I know there are many people looking for work right now, and all work is a blessing.

In the meantime, I'd appreciate your prayers for sanity, patience, and discernment.

And if you have any thoughts on alternative employment I'd love to hear them!

Spring Style

I went shopping yesterday for new spring styles. Apparently it was a popular day to go shop because there were lines at all the dressing rooms. Also lots of pouty teenagers (surely my mother didn't let me act like that!), crying toddlers, and really skinny 50+ women dressing like teeny-boppers.

But as I was shopping I really felt convicted about how much stuff I have. I didn't need a single thing. I don't think it is wrong to spend money on clothes (as long as you have the money to spend), but the more I shopped the more I kept thinking about how many clothes I already have that I don't wear and how many other good things I could do with the clothing budget. So all I bought were a few very simple pieces:
- a black knit dress that is super flattering, comfortable, and versatile enough to wear out to a nice dinner, to work, to church, laying around the house, and as a swimsuit cover-up (from Marshalls).
- a pair of flat black sandals (from Target). I decided I could use a pair of flats that aren't flip-flops.
- a pair of black pumps to replace my work pair that died last month ($10 in the clearance aisle at Marshalls).

Actually, I really don't wear that much black, I promise. :)

Based on my brief spring style survey, here's what's in that I'll be participating in the trend:
- natural accessories
- cardigans (I have tons of these)
- colors: coral, cobalt blue, hot pink, turquoise, black and white, neutrals

I will not be participating in these trends:
- military style
- big floral patterns (these look ridiculous on petite people)
- yellow (I shudder when I think about that color next to my skin tone!)

So when I got home I went through my closet and found tons of items that are "on trend" that I will be sporting this spring. Here are a few of my favorites:

Purses galore, thanks to Mom!


Bought this coral dress at Gap when I was in high school. It still fits and it's still fashionable. Two hurrahs!


Bought this darling black and white dress at Loft three or four years ago, and it's still in style, yay!


Judging by what I saw in stores yesterday, I can get another season out of this trend (bought these at Old Navy last year):


New black flat sandals:


Cute hot pink shoes Aunt 'Ne gave me last year:

Recent Reading

Three books I've read lately that were quite thought provoking . . .

Evangelical is Not Enough, by Thomas Howard
Howard is an evangelical who embraced the Episcopal church and later became a Catholic. Naturally I didn't agree with all his positions, but that's the point of reading and study - to expand your horizons and continue exploring your own belief system. I really enjoyed his explanations of the liturgy - "the work of the people" - and how it can be used to draw us closer to God. I agreed with his statements that we shouldn't discount the entire history of the church over the past two thousand years, just because some bad things happened (bad things always happen because sin is in the world); instead, we should focus on the methods other Christians have used to draw close to God and see what we can learn from fellow believers who have walked the road to Christ before us.

Middlemarch, by George Eliot
Okay, I'll be honest, I read Silas Marner and The Mill on the Floss and, well, yuck. That is to say, I didn't enjoy them very much. But I thought I should give Eliot one more try, so I tackled Middlemarch. I loved this novel. It was long, with well-developed characters and a good outline for a story. But to me, it wasn't so much about the story Eliot is telling as it was a portrait of very different marriages - Casaubon to Dorothea, Lydgate to Rosamond, Sir James to Celia, and others, as all the citizens and generations of Middlemarch interact. Definitely got me thinking about what kind of marriage I want to have (ladies, here's a hint - Rosamond is not someone you want to emulate!). The story was enjoyable, the novel well-developed. Overall score would have been an A.

Adopted for Life, by Russell Moore
Aaron and I have been interested in adoption and possibly foster parenting for a long time. We started discussing these topics way back when, during the dating years. We're not quite sure what God has planned for us yet, but know that it will include adoption in some way. There will be more to come on this topic, I am sure. But this book is about the priority of adoption for Christian families and churches. It talked a lot about how God has adopted us as His sons and daughters, and how emulating the Father's example is part of the Christian life. Not that all are called to adopt, but that all are called to support adoption in some way, as a reflection of what God has done for us. I'll include some of my favorite quotes below.

"The protection of children isn't charity. It isn't part of a political program fitting somewhere between tax cuts and gun rights or between carbon emission caps and a national service corps. It's spiritual warfare." (65)

"Churches that don't celebrate children aren't going to celebrate evangelism. After all, the 'be fruitful and multiply' clause in Genesis is echoed in the Great Commission of Jesus (Matt. 28:16-20), a mission that also seeks to fill the entire earth. Jesus links procreation to new creation by speaking of new converts and newborn babies and of conversion itself as a new birth. When Jesus stands before His Father with the redeemed of the ages, He will announce us as 'the children God has given me' (Heb. 2:13)." (77)

"An orphan-protecting adoption culture is countercultural--and always has been. Some of the earliest records we have of the Christian churches speak of how Christians, remarkably, protected children in the face of a culture of death pervasive in the Roman Empire . . . This is still distinctively Christian in a world that increasingly sees children as, at best, a commodity to be controlled and, at worst, a nuisance to be contained. Think of how revolutionary it is for Christians to adopt a young boy with a cleft palate from a region in India where most people seem him as 'defective' . . . Think of how odd it must seem to American secularists to see Christians adopting a baby whose body trembles with an addiction to the cocaine her mother sent through her bloodstream before birth. Think of the kind of credibility such action lends to the proclamation of our gospel." (79)

"All of us are called to be compassionate. All of us are called to remember the poor. All of us are called to remember the fatherless and the widows. That will look different in our different lives, with the different situations and resources God has given us. But for all of us there'll be a judgment to test the genuineness of our faith. And for some of us, there'll be orphan faces there." (82-83)

"If God is moving you toward adoption, you'll need to make some decisions at the outset. The hardest decision, if you've decided to adopt, has already been made. The most important thing for you to know about these decisions is that whatever you decide, you're not going to wreck God's plan for your life. Whatever your views about how God's kingship fits with human freedom, you know as a Christian that God is at work in bringing about His good purposes for you. Your decisions fit, mysteriously, into that overall plan. Don't worry." (144-145)

"Who knows that the future holds for my sons--or for whatever children the Lord may call you or your loved ones to adopt? The question is, do you trust Jesus, with their stories and with yours?" (165)

"People speak of rearing 'adopted children' with hushed tones and raised eyebrows, as though this task is not for the faint of heart. They speak of the trials of 'adopted' children with all their identity crises and hidden hurts, as though one is predestined for misery because of adoption itself. Those people will always be with us. They're the same ones who tell newly married couples how tough marriage is 'once the honeymoon's over, you just wait and see.' They're the same ones who tell a newly pregnant woman to 'get your sleep now, 'cause you won't get any more for eighteen years.' The reality, though, is that in most ways parenting is parenting, and growing up is growing up. It's always hard. Some unique challenges go along with adoption--challenges related to finding a sense of belonging, to discipline and discipleship, to answering questions about origins. Count these as all joy. The point all of us--not just kids who were adopted--to the gospel. The gospel welcomes us and receives us as loved children. The gospel disciplines us and prepares us for eternity as heirs. The gospel speaks truth to us and shows us our misery in Adam and our glory in Christ. The gospel shows us that we were born into death and then shows us, by free grace, that we're adopted for life." (214)

We're Not Victims. We Are Victorious.

We're not victims. We are victorious.

I heard this on the radio this morning as I was driving into work. I don't remember the name of the songwriter who was being interviewed. But I've been meditating on this statement all day.

We are not victims. We are not victims of our circumstance. We are not victims of sin. We are not victims of meaninglessness.

No.

We are victorious. We are victorious in Christ. Through Him, we are victorious over all things - even death.

1 Corinthians 15: 54b-57 says, “then the saying that is written will come true: Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

There is power in these words of God! When the circumstances, pain, suffering, meaningless, evil, and death of the world get us down - remember: We are victorious in the power of Jesus.

Thank you, Lord, for reminding me of Your power today.

Dry Cleaners

I try to avoid the dry cleaners as much as possible. Most "dry clean" garments you can launder yourself, you just have to be cautious. And Dryel is great for tops, sweaters, and cardigans. I iron all of the Gent's dress shirts myself because I don't think it is worth paying $2 to have someone else do it. (If it were only one or two shirts, I'd think about it. But when you're looking at $50 a month for dry cleaning, it is an easy item to cut from the budget.)

But I've had to go twice in the past month. Sad, I know. I did have coupons.

I chose our current dry cleaners because it is super-convenient as I go to and from work. It is also one-day service. If you know me at all, you know I like to get things marked off my to-do list as quickly as possible. I drop off on my way to work (6:30am or so) and pick up on my way home (usually around 5:30pm). Sounds easy, right?

Except every time I drop off items, they say "is tomorrow after 5 okay?" And every time I say, "No, I want to pick them up tonight." And every time they look at me like they are extraordinarily put out with me and can't imagine why I am being so unreasonable. Then they grimace and say, "Well, okay. But they probably won't be ready until right before we close." And I smile and say thanks and drive off. And every time I come by in the evening they are ready. It annoys the heck out of me that every time I drop off dry-cleaning they complain because I want the service they advertise on the neon sign in the window - "in my 9, out by 5. one day service." Sheesh people I am paying you to perform a service you advertise in neon. And I'm dropping them off at 6:30 - you've got a two and a half hour head start!

To top that off, last week I took one of the Gent's sports coats that had a big run-in with a bottle of barbeque sauce. And they couldn't get the stain out. So I came home, pulled out my Tide-To-Go pen, and five minutes later - good as new. Tide pen, you rock.

There's my rant for the day. Thanks for listening. :) Feel free to share yours.

Where's the Love?

Okay, dear friends who urged me to switch to blogger so you could comment . . . you know who you are.

I'm waiting on your comments. :P

(Seriously, y'all, this is embarrassing - my mom is the only one commenting. Love you, Mom.)

Remember

I think about Noel every. single. day.

This may sound strange, but I don't dream about what Noel's life would have been like. I believe every life is a complete life. Just because our baby's life was much shorter than we ever wanted, Noel's life is complete. This is exactly what God planned. Even if I don't understand it. I don't have to understand something to be able to accept it as truth.

But I miss my baby every. single. day.

I find myself longing for heaven in a way I never have before. It's not that I don't want to live a long and full life, because I do. I look forward to finding out what the Lord has planned for us. But I am so glad that at the end of this life on earth, heaven is waiting. Because only then will life really be complete.

________________________________


On a somewhat related note, fellow-blogger Melissa's post really resonated with me today. You can check it out here.

Apparently, I'm a Beautiful Blogger

Thanks, Amber, for the lovely award. My first one; I'm so proud!

Here’s how it works:
1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
2. Copy the award and place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4. Share 7 interesting things about yourself.
5. Nominate 7 bloggers.

(I'm knocking this 7 rule down to 5. Too tired to think of any more.)

5 Things About Me:
1. I love to bake. I'm currently perfecting my sandwich bread recipe.
2. I love to read. A lot. I've already read about 15 books this year.
3. I am tired. Really, really tired.
4. I am excited to be quitting my job in just 5 months + 1 week.
5. I look forward to being home during the day. I love to run my little household.

Bloggers I Nominate:
1. Mmm We're Better Together
2. Life with the Lackey's
3. By the Fireside
4. The Richies Three
5. Faith Murphy

Shout-out Time

This week I've been reminded how wonderful it is to be married to my husband. He is supportive and encouraging and a lot of fun! We love to laugh together. Here are a few things he does that I really appreciate:

walks the dogs (I go with him most of the time, but if I'm not feeling up for it or just being lazy, he is the dedicated one)

washes the dishes after dinner (I love to cook, but not to clean up)

keeps my car filled with gas (I am of the opinion that real women don't pump gas )

Thanks, hubby, for all you do! I love you very much. And I respect you for who you are and what you bring to our marriage.

Natural Family Planning

Okay, pick your chin up off the floor!

The Gent and I have given the role of birth control a lot of thought lately. We used the pill for the first two and a half years of our marriage. I did great on it, no side effects, and it was obviously effective until I went off of it in November and got pregnant with Noel the very next month. We put a lot of thought and prayer into birth control before we made the decision to go on the pill. I won't second guess myself now; what's done is done. I don't think the pill caused our miscarriage or anything like that. But we don't plan to go back to hormonal birth control again.

There are several reasons for our decision.

Children are a blessing! Psalm 127:3 says "Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from Him." Our society often ignores God's view and sees children as an inconvenience. I don't believe there is anything wrong with using birth control, but I do think that as Christians we should examine our motives before doing so. I do have a problem with certain forms of birth control, especially IUDs. Because I believe life begins at fertilization, IUDs can cause early abortions. They don't prevent a life from being formed, they only prevent that life from implanting and growing.

I don't like having synthetic hormones in my body, altering my natural cycle. I didn't realize how much better I feel off the pill until I went off of it! I don't want to go back to that.

I want to know what is going on with my own body. Women, God designed our bodies! We are fearfully and wonderfully made.

If you want to learn more about Natural Family Planning/Fertility Awareness, I recommend Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler. Heck, I think you should read it even if you aren't interested in NFP. No one bothers to teach us what is going on with our own bodies, and I think we should know! One more thing . . . I've often heard people disregard NFP because it doesn't work, or my cycle's not regular, or it's too complicated. None of these arguments hold water. NFP is effective at achieving or preventing pregnancy, you can use it if your cycle is regular or not, and it takes about two minutes a day. Trust me, you can do it. And you'll feel so confident in yourself when you finally understand your own body, working just as God designed it!

Weekend Recap

What a great weekend!

Friday night we had a yummy dinner with some sweet friends from church. We had a great time visiting and I enjoyed a night off from cooking (much as I like to do it, a break is nice).

Saturday we slept in, ran a few errands and did some shopping, and then went to a party at the Gent's school. I call it "law school prom." Comes complete with prom photo, taken by friend instead of Mom:



Sunday the Gent graciously taught our Twos class by himself and I joined in leading worship. I've been singing in the choir at our "new" church the past couple of years, and have really enjoyed it. I'm finally learning to sing parts. :) But I've always loved being part of the worship team. Tangent . . . I started helping with worship in eighth grade, and it was a major part of what really brought my faith home for me in high school. It was part of what made me realize I had to decide for myself what I believed, and not just go on with what I'd inherited from my (wonderful) parents. So I really enjoyed being part of that experience again. Worship brings me back to my first love: Jesus. Where would I be without Him?

Tangent over. I'm back now.

We finished up the weekend by celebrating Huck's second birthday! He loves his new kong toy and his peanut butter bark bar was a special treat.







And then I took a nap.

Bliss.