Wondering

This week is very hectic...

My first Norwex party as the consultant instead of just the hostess.

A field trip on Friday with all of its last-minute details.

A chorus performance to attend tonight.

Laundry, cleaning, the normal house stuff.

And through it all, I am wondering...How's my baby doing?  Is Little One (LO) growing inside a belly right now?  Does LO feel safe and loved?  Is LO healthy?  Is LO going to love me and let me hold him/her?  When is LO coming?

It kind of makes me sick sometimes.  And I know I'm not alone.  I'm not the first mother of a child to feel this way.  It is a daily task, sometimes even a tug-of-war, to relinquish all of this to God.

If people could be inside my head they would think I am crazy (maybe they already do).
It sounds a little like this:

I know you are in control, God, but what if my baby has major health concerns and we are stuck in hospital for months just trying to get LO to live?
What if there is something not quite right with LO's brain?
What if LO screams all day and night, so hard that his/her body is completely rigid and I can't get LO to calm down?????
Okay, okay, I could do this all day, right?
You are in control.  You don't react to anything.
You are the King of being proactive.
You knew it.  You designed it.  You have it all figured out.
I just need to do what you tell me to do, go where you tell me to go, learn what you want me to learn, love how you want me to love.
Alright then.  I give up.  I surrender.  You win.  Because you already have.

Thank you Lord for being a know-it-all.  I'm so glad you do.

Weekly Menu

Here was our menu from this past week:

Sunday - sandwiches and chips (this will probably be a staple every Sunday night b/c lunch is usually big and late...it can also mean Ramen noodles, spaghetti-o's, frozen pizza, or whatever we can find around the house)

Monday - french toast and bacon

Tuesday - French dips

Wednesday - Barberitos night (my personal go-to place for a quick meal out)

Thursday - Pizza Pinwheels

Friday - leftovers

Saturday - Teriyaki chicken, rice, and veggies


My favorite: the French dip sandwiches were so easy and so delish.  We will definitely see this one a lot.
Jeff's favorite: the French dip :)

Memory Lane

I was playing around on the computer tonight and ran across these...

1. Alyssa 2. Camryn  3. Oliver  4. ClaraRose

Yes...that's the sound of my heart melting.

2 Laptops, a Genius, and a Starbucks

Once upon a time, there was a lovely couple who were trying to be oh-so-frugal.  They had this policy of not buying new things until something broke.  They bought a laptop not long after they married and had that laptop for 5 years.  During three of those years, one or both of them were in school, and their little laptop took a beating.  It lost the F and G keys, but this sweet couple found ways around it.  One day it started making really weird noises and not following certain simple commands (tab, delete, mute).

The Frugals (the name just came to me) decided to break their policy on buying new things and went with a more proactive mindset--"let's not wait until we can't retrieve our files to buy a new computer."  They did their research and decided to take really a big plunge into the world of Apple.  They talked to trusted friends, played on some friends' Macs, and finally walked into the Apple store on Monday evening as part of date night (man, they are frugal).

The well-informed associate guided the Frugals through the many options available and then allowed them time to make a decision.  The Frugals decided on the 15-inch MacBook Pro.  Mrs. Frugal flashed her teacher card and got a sweet little discount.  The folks at Apple also threw in a wireless printer for free!

Mr. Frugal returned to the Apple store on Tuesday to drop off the new laptop, the old laptop, and the external hard drive so they could do a little transfer and reformatting dance with each other.  He brought home the new addition on Wednesday and the fun began.  Everything was blue skies and smooth-sailing...until Saturday evening.

Mrs. Frugal brought the laptop from the kitchen to the couch to take care of a little business only to see a crazed blurry screen.  What to do!?
Wiggle the mouse??
Press the power button??
To her annoyance, this only made the screen go completely black.

Mr. Frugal called from work with some troubleshooting ideas.  None of them brought success.

It was decided they would trek back to the Apple store after church to solve this problem.

Upon entering the store, a smiling associate ushered them to the Genius Bar, a magical portion of the store where the Apple Geniuses reside.  An Apple Genius tapped his most genius finger on the power button and (wait for it) the computer turned on with no problems.  The Frugals were amazed, baffled, excited, and let's be honest, slightly ticked for they had done this very thing just before leaving the house thinking that perhaps the laptop just needed a good night's rest.      

The Frugals felt a little embarrassed, but were delighted when the Genius said they would get a brand-new laptop because apparently blurry and black screens are not the norm.  Their new laptop did the transfer of files dance with their even newer laptop for a couple of hours.  Mr. Frugal went for a coffee at Starbucks because he had been up all night at work and was now missing his 6-hour afternoon nap.  Mrs. Frugal looked at the many accessories available for the laptop and made a mental file entitled "things I would love to drop cash on right now but will be patient and budget for them".

A few hours later, the Frugals and their newer laptop were safely at home.

And they lived happily ever after.

Foodie

food·ie

[foo-dee] 

–noun Slang .

a person keenly interested in food, especially in eating or cooking

*borrowed from dictionary.com

I think I may be turning into one of these.  I have never claimed to be a good cook or said that I love cooking or considered cooking a hobby.  Recently, however, my behaviors have been contrary to this.

I have been planning our menus for forever.  I'm just no good without a plan.  I have been doing it more recently in an effort to save money by only buying what we need and then actually cooking and eating all of what I have made.  I also know that with a plan, we are less likely to just pull through a drive-thru and eat junk.

I visit and read several blogs to plan our menu each week.  I must say that it has become my favorite Saturday morning activity (I think that statement alone makes me qualify as a foodie).  What I have realized is alot of these bloggers are simply borrowing from other blogs.  I have also realized that some people just do a little tweak to a recipe and Voila! they have a whole new recipe.  I guess I am experimenting with some recipe tweaking and going completely off the recipe to do what I feel led (another statement that a foodie would make).  With all of that being said, here is our menu from last week.

Sunday-sandwiches and chips

Monday-chicken and rice soup (super easy and ymmy: throw chicken breasts, carrots, celery, salt, and pepper in the crock pot with chicken broth~cook all day~cook some rice and throw it in there right before serving~stir it all up and enjoy)

Tuesday-Teriyaki Chicken and vegetables 

Wednesday-Meatloaf (from the kraftfoods.com but I do it for memory now) and brown rice

Thursday-Chicken Crescents and Swiss Potato Cups (I renamed the potato dish because the other name was boring)

Friday-Chick-fil-A night

Saturday-Lasagna-Stuff Garlic Bread (this makes a ton for two people and I could not get all of the stuffing to fit in the number of crescent rolls recommended.  Despite all of that, it's a keeper.)

• SE's favorite: I have a tie between chicken and rice soup because it was so homey feeling and chicken crescents because they were super yummy and I have all of the ingredients on hand all of the time.
• Jeff's favorite: Can't tell you right now because he is snoozing after spending all night working and all morning and afternoon awake.  That is a post for another day :)

Cows, ice cream, and the Wii

1. Saturday at Happy Cow

2. "I don't like cows.  Cows don't smell good." (Eli)

3. Would you like a taste of my farm fresh chocolate ice cream?

4. Happy dance in response to scoring on the Wii

5. Awaiting his score on the Wii (which didn't really matter because just taking a turn was exciting enough)

6. Sibling love

Tonight

Tonight is a big night.  I will actually get to watch the NCAA championship game in real time, not the day after (thank you friends with cable TV). 

My pick is Butler, and as I was thinking about it today, it only makes sense that I pull for them for the the following reasons:

1. They are a Cinderella team and everyone has a special place in their hearts for the Cinderella teams.

2.  I love names starting with the letter B.  On the short list of names I have right now are Beck, Barrett, and Butler.

3. Butler is Rhett's last name in Gone With the Wind and I have read that book more than once and I make it a point to view the movie every summer.

4. Their mascot is none other than a bulldog, and I already for other bulldogs so it is a perfect fit.

5.  Their coach wears glasses right now and so do I right now thanks to all of the springtime growth (that one was a stretch, but it works).

6.  The women's coach at Butler went to Erskine with a friend that I teach with so I have a very clear connection to the school (in a six-degrees-of-Kevin-Bacon kind of way).

Quite obviously, it was destined for me to be pulling for Butler.  If I had listened to my inner self when making my brackets, I could be taking a trophy home tonight. :)

Being real

I recently read someone's blog about how they wanted to be more real in the blogging...not just writing about the happy times and how everything is wonderful, but also writing about their struggles.  Then I read someone else's blog and they too were being real about something in their marriage.  So here's to being real.

I have been really working on my quiet time, making it meaningful.  I have been reading a book with Jeff (see about that here), and there is an appendix in the back about quiet times.  I have been doing it for the past two days.  It has been eye-opening. 

Let me back up and say that the reason I have been so interested in Bible study, quiet times, etc. is because I really want to know God.  Hold on to your britches because I am about to really reveal something here:  For the first time in my life (and keep in mind I have been a Christian for 10 years this past November), I really have a yearning to know God.  I want to know everything about Him.  I feel like I have just been hanging around trying to do and say all of the right things to make people think I am super spiritual.  Even though I have only been doing my quiet time for the past two mornings, I already feel like God and I are forging this awesome new friendship.  I do my quiet time at the kitchen table and it's like He's sitting in the chair directly opposite of me.  It's the absolute coolest thing ever. 

While this has all been very awesome, some other things have come out of this.  I have learned that God is not going to just tell me I need to do something and then tell me, "but if you're not comfortable with that now, it can wait."  Oh no, sister.  He is going to keep bringing it up until I do, and He is also not going to do tell me anything new until I do it.  And now it's time for big reveal number two:  God wants me to completely surrender everything to Him.  Let me be specific: He wants me to stop thinking that weight is going to magically fall off my body, and He wants me to let Him be in control of my weight-loss.  He also wants me to stop worrying about finances for next year and just trust Him because He has told me repeatedly that we will have more than what we need financially (didn't He already show us how to save for this adoption in less than a year?!?!).  And finally, He has told me to let Him bring our child (or children) to us in His own time and His own way.   Stop (and I mean stop) trying to take over, stop overthinking it, and I absolutely must stop trying to sabotage it. 

So there.  Now you all know my innermost thoughts, struggles, and joys.  I am spent.  I guess that's what you get for being real.