10 things

you may or may not know about me...


1. I spent an entire summer during college in Estes Park, Colorado. I was taking part in a Christian leadership program. Everyone who was a part of this program lived in the staff dorms on the grounds of the YMCA of the Rockies and worked full-time for the Y. Here we are, goofing around at the laundry mat. On my left is my dear friend I've known since 7th grade, Danielle, and on my right was a new friend I made that summer, Jessie.


My job was working in food service. Funny enough (b/c now I HATE doing dishes), my favorite assignment was working in the dishroom due to all the fun we would have!



2. Christmas break of my senior year of college, I got to spend almost three weeks in Cameroon, Africa, with my sister, who was there for two years as a missionary.



3. I am absolutely terrified of snakes. Like, unreasonably so; phobia-esque if you will.


4. I spent most of my first 11 years of life living places other than the US of A. At six weeks I lived in Switzerland. At six months I lived in Quebec, Cananda, and from 2 to 10 1/2 I lived in the DRC (than, Zaire), Africa. I still feel most comfortable in foreign countries and around folks from other countries. I saw snakes frequently growing up. I wasn't really afraid of them then. I even encountered a green mamba (absolutely deadly snake) in strike postion. I had the sense to get out of there, but not too afraid. Now though... when I never see snakes, and if I did they probably couldn't hurt me if they tried... PETRIFIED!


5. My daughter is obsessed with snakes. Go figure.


6. I am an RN, though my license is probably not valid for much anymore. I didn't really like being an RN. Though, I do miss parts of it.


7. I am at this weird stage in life where most things my daughter does remind me of myself as a kid and at the same time I'm becoming more and more like my mother!


8. My husband is a man of honor and I am still amazed at qualities he has that I find I need in my husband that I never knew I needed prior to getting married. God is good like that!


9. I want lots of children. And I really want some of them to be adopted.


10. I hate being hot and I hate being cold. I'm rather a baby about it too. I prefer to be... comfortable. Ha! :)

What is something I might not know about you?

A Sweet, and healthy, delight!

Gather a few handfuls of raw almonds.



Get out your favorite chocolate chips. THESE just happen to be mine.



Give your almonds a rough chop, or throw them in a food processor for a few spins.



Melt some of your chocolate chips in the microwave.



Stir your chopped up almonds into the melted chocolate. Spoon cookie-size mounds onto parchment or wax paper (or one of the pastry mats shown in my picture). Stick them into the fridge to set up and enjoy! Delicious and healthy! Can't beat that.

She's still at it

In case you wondered if Sophia had chosen a different way of life and was no longer saying anything dramatic and delightful, let me not dissapoint!

Tonight, as we were wrapping up dinner, I was trying to rub some of Jamie's knots out of his neck/shoulder area. I must have hit the money spot, because he cried out, "Ouch," with a rather painful looking grimace. Sophia responds, with actual tears and a quiver, "DON'T HURT MY FATHER!" :)

As Soph and I were reading bedtime stories, she accidently stepped on this flamingo toy my parents got her at the zoo recently. It squeaked. I wasn't sure she was aware that it did that. "I didn't know it squeaked. Oh, wait! Yes I did! My remembering just broke."

"Did you seriously?" "No, I didn't!"

Recently I received this comment on one of my posts from my sister


She is referring to this:

At the bottom of each of my posts it tells you what time it got posted to my blog. (FYI: This is also where you go to leave a comment. :) Just click on the word "comments" and it will take you where you need to go. If you don't have a blogger account, no worries! You can post "anonomously," just sign your name so I know who you are!)

So, back to the original topic. From the second picture, you can see it says that I posted at 6 am, but my big secret to you is, I, in fact, did not! I probably wrote that post sometime the day or two before. I thought those of you who have blogs might like to know how I can post in advance...

If you start a new post, look at the bottom and you will find, in blue, "Post Options."


Click on "Post Options" and another box will drop down.


In this box you can simply choose both the date and time you actually want what you wrote to post to your blog. After you type in the date and time of your choosing, hit "Publish Post" and it will save as a scheduled post.


That's all there is to it. Very simple. I often have multiple posts I want to do, so I will write them one after the other and simply stagger when they get put up on my blog. Now you know all most of my secrets!

This is what happens

at lunch


when a certain baby boy


doesn't


take


a morning


nap... zzzzzzzz

Shall we say, "Stay-cation?"

The last two days have been wonderful! Jamie is done at Verizon, and my parents graciously agreed to watch the kids the past two nights so we could have a bit of a vacation. We didn't go anywhere, but we have really enjoyed the time to relax and do whatever we choose. Though, we both agree, the house is WAY too empty and quiet without Sophia and Riley, and frankly, I'm counting the hours till I get to see them again. Life is rather dull, empty and boring without them. Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed sleeping in these past two days immensly! :)

Jamie and I started off with a great dinner date. We had a little fun with the camera...








Other things we've enjoyed...

Thursday night we stayed up until 1 am watching two movies! We slept in till 12N yesterday. That was SO nice. I adore sleeping in, as you well know if you're one of my girlfriends who've ever had a sleepover with me! :)

Friday afternoon our good friend, Nicole, came by for a couple hours to visit. She is a teacher at a school in Singapore, and we always look forward to catching up with her when she's Stateside. It was great to see you Nicole! We're praying for you!

Friday evening, we rode our bikes to Subway for dinner (YUM! There's something about eating a loaded up sandwich that I didn't have to prepare.) then rode around our town for about another hour. We've been doing this really hard work out video most mornings, and it was nice to take a break from that and work out in a different way. When Jamie and I first got married the area we lived in had all sorts of great bike trails and paths. We don't really have that around here... but riding together again brought back all sorts of great memories.

We slept in again this morning, of course... :) and plan to do some more bike riding. We're planning on riding over to a local antique shop to browse and who knows where else! My parents will be bringing back Soph and Riley later this afternoon and we'll all enjoy dinner together.

So, that's what we've been up to... how about you?

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

One old milk jug (I used a 1/2 gallon size) + one monkey

1 marker and a pair of scissors

Another monkey

A pair of chopsticks (work great for 1/2 gallon, probably too small for full gallon), or some dowel rods

Finally, add some bird seed, and hang from a tree.

This produces a great bird feeder made from recycled products! (monkeys not essential for process but greatly preferred)

[thank you My Big Back Yard for this great idea]

Happy Birthday Daddy

My Daddy, that is. Today we celebrate his life and are so thankful for him!!!



Saturday we got to celebrate with a little party at our house. My sister, brother-in-law, their sweet Cora, and dog Molly were able to join us too! This picnic table was my Grandpa's. We have inherited it, and had fun eating around a table I have many fond memories of.



Grampy with sweet Cora Ann!



My parents and Cora. Aren't they a good looking couple?



Dad and his grand-girls. Sophia made that card for my Dad - minus the writing part. Poor Riley didn't really get into any good pictures this time. He was too busy chasing Molly around!



Make a wish! My Dad is wearing one of my Grandpa's hats here. Funny thing is, my Dad never wears hats like this. Jamie loves hats like this, so they were given to him since they fit him. I think Soph put it on my Dad's head just in time for a picture. I think he looks rather dapper!


We love you Dad!

ONE MORE DAY!!!!

Tomorrow is Jamie's last day working at Verizon Wireless. This job has been hard on our family in a lot of ways, but in more ways than that, it has been an over-abundant blessing! Though we've been praying to get out, practically since Jamie started, we've come to realize how God has used this particular job not only to teach us a lot, but also for our good.

I think it was May 20 of 2007 that Jamie started his adventure as a Salesman. We quickly realized this job might not be all we'd hoped for when Jamie's first six weeks were spent away from home, 5 or so days at a time, in a different city for his extensive training. Let me tell you, those were six LONG weeks for Sophia and me. She was 2 1/2 and really starting to test boundaries and rules and discipline. It was SO hard to live life with our sweet girl, essentially alone those six weeks.

For over two years now, Jamie has worked almost every Friday and Saturday, and most Sundays, he's worked mostly middle shifts, which means he leaves before lunch and doesn't get home till after supper, maybe before kiddos' bedtime, sometimes not.

For over a year, he commuted 1/2 hr. both ways, working for a manager that was less than cordial, shall we say. Once Riley was born we were blessed beyond measure for Jamie to be able to move to our local store, though he took a demontion in position and pay to do it. For us, at the time, it was worth it, and we haven't regretted that decision!

The past 10 1/2 months have been much better, what with a 2 minute commute, Jamie being able to come home on his lunch breaks and the store he works at now closes earlier than his old one did. For all those reasons, and more, we are so thankful Jamie's been able to work here.

As tomorrow approaches it almost feels like Christmas. The anticipation is palpable and we couldn't be more thankful that God has finally not only called us away from the world of retail, but into the world of missionary work.

This job, though so hard on our family life, has provided an income that allowed us to buy a house and do things to our house we'd not have been able to afford otherwise. It's also taught us a lot of lessons, like what's really important to us - i.e. no amount of money will ever be worth sacrificing the type of family and community life we feel called to (not that the money was why Jamie originally took this job, but still, we'll never be tempted to think that way!). God has also used this job to build some great life skills into my husband, and for me, I will never take for granted my husband's presence and help. Jamie's also been able to build some great friendships and make some awesome connections through his job with Verizon. We've also saved a ton of money on our cell phone bills!!! :) That deal will be so sad to lose... :) God has also used Jamie to be a light amidst the darkness, and has used him to be the token guy that helps all the International students when they come in with cell phone problems.

Jamie has felt really beat down many times in this performance-oriented environment. BUT! He has won numerous awards and is often asked for by name. Many customrers will only work with him. He has worked so hard and done an amazing job at applying himself in a job he has simply tolerated. I am so proud of him. Though he's no "salesman," he's worked so hard to better himself to perform as he's been required to and has done so well. I just love my husband and am so happy to see the calling God gave to him some 10 years ago coming true at the close of tomorrow!

To celebrate the end of his run at Verizon, Jamie has been plotting for a long time now (almost since he started!) to wear an aweful tie that doesn't match his outfit on his last day. He's been given permission to invite the other employees to join in the fun tomorrow and they are holding an "Ugly Outfit" Contest!!! :) I'll make sure to get some pictures. His dreams are coming true, one ugly tie at a time. :)

I love him so.

Just a bunch of random

This sweet faced boy, well, he has a bit of a love for all things sweet. He's also prooving to be a bit of a strong-willed little man - possible even more so than his sister! *gasp* (we know!!!) When we offer him a tiny taste of a treat, say ice-cream, he tends to go all ballistic on us if we don't keep it coming, and keep it coming fast! The above picture is proof. While in Colorado, back in June, we visited an ice-cream shop and this is the face Riley gave us when the flow of ice-cream stopped.

Then, there's this girl. Jamie and I have started working out most mornings in our basement. It's become a bit of a family affair, and Sophia tried to "workout" with us the other day. It didn't last long, as she said it was hurting her legs - I feel ya girl, my legs were burnin' too!!! Well, later that night, I asked her if she was going to work out with us again the next morning. She replied, "Definitely NOT!"

Our dear friend, Shirmy, who lives with us during the school year, is again gone for the summer months working out of state. We decided to rent her room to another student who needed short-term housing for the summer, while looking for a long-term home off campus. Well, we expected her to be with us through August, but she was blessed to find a great house to live in, and moved out Saturday. She was such a dear and we really enjoyed having her with us. She was so great with Sophia, and their favorite game was putting make-up one eachother, as evidenced in the above shot. Our friend was so patient and always willing to play with Sophia. When she left Saturday night, Sophia bawled her eyes out. Her heart is so tender and she needed to lay on our friend's old bed for awhile to feel better. Our friend isn't yet saved, but God gave me the opportunity to share the complete Gospel with her before she left. It was a great conversation and I look forward to seeing what God does in her heart in the coming weeks and months. Pray for her salvation, would you?

Have a wonderful week! Jamie's last day at Verizon is this Wednesday!!!!

My New Best Friend

Frozen Fruit, that's right, you heard me correctly. Not only is my new best friend something edible, it's something very cold - but versatile, delicious, and healthy too!

Jamie and I have been buying frozen blueberries (wild blueberries are our preference, organic is even better!) for a couple of years now. We all eat blueberries almost every single day. Since they are one the so-called "Power" foods, this makes me feel good to know!

Our favorite ways to eat frozen blueberries:

1. Sprinkle on our breakfast cereal. I put mine in cold cereal, Jamie and the kids tend to eat oatmeal and love adding blueberries! Riley even joins in on this and loves it!

2. Put in vanilla yogurt, with some granola and chocolate chips, if available.

3. Add to muffins. Yum!

Next up would be mixed berries. I almost always have these on hand as they are a favorite ingredient for a special treat we like to make now and again.

Our favorite thing to do with frozen mixed berries is, stick them in the blender with some yogurt, honey and a splash of juice to make a delicious smoothie!!! We eat these year round!

Just this week I tried out another use for our frozen mixed berries - hot berry sauce to put over our pancakes. I thawed them out, tossed them in my food processor (seriously, my favorite and most used kitchen appliance!) to break up the biggest pieces (it's okay if there are still some chunks, but you don't want them too big), then into a small sauce pan with about 1/2 cup water. Allow the berries and water to just come to a boil, then switch temp. down to simmer. Stir in about 1 tbsp. of cornstarch and let it simmer away until it's as thick as you'd like it. As long as it's on the heat, stir frequently. Pour over pancakes and enjoy! So! Good! I think next, we'll try it poured over vanilla ice cream with hot fudge. Oh man, that's making me salivate!

Lastly, at least for now, is frozen mango chunks. We started buying these to feed Riley. He adores them! Just the other day I discovered a fun way to serve them, and not just to babies. I let them thaw out just a bit and stick them in my food processor. I then process until the mangoes basically turn into a sorbet consistency. Eat with a spoon and maybe enjoy a cookie or two with it. So refreshing on a hot day, and so healthy too!

What about you? Do you always have frozen fruit on hand, if so, what do you do with it?