Life in L'ville

Baby Fat

2011-08-30T19:02:00.000-07:00

So I think everyone would agree that baby fat ON THE BABY is super cute! Here's an example!

Baby fat on the mommy....well....that's not so cute! As a mother of two...and post pregnant going on 4 months...this has been on my mind, or my hips rather! In an age where the magazines are plastered with skinnies and all the women's magazines have a new wonder diet, it's hard to think truthfully about my weight. But here are my thoughts.

First of all, if you are the kind of girl who looks better than before you had your baby, when you walk out of the hospital with your newborn, it's not encouraging to us girls that have to work at getting the weight off to hear about how quickly you lost it. I will work on being happy for you, you can work on keeping it on the DL about how fast your metabolism must be.

Second, it's not my job to be model-like but it is my job to take care of what God has given me...that includes my weight. I read a facebook post a girl had put up quoting Jessica Alba and how her post pregnancy diet was to basically starve herself. I don't know if Jessica Alba really said or did that or not but I know that it's my job to be healthy and feed my infant. I can't starve myself and expect to nurse for long...besides I could never starve myself. Some ways that I have decided to live healthily are to 1) Reserve eating sweets for special occasions, like parties. 2) Exercise 30 minutes a day, 5 times a week 3) Remember that food is fun(I really like to cook and bake) but that it is energy so what I consume must be used or turned into fat for later. This is helpful for me to remember when I really want to eat that sweet something. It's just poor stewardship to eat more than what my body needs. 4) Learn what is in your food. I was randomly looking at the nutrition facts for a cake that was sitting on the counter(by the way there is another person in the house that buys most of the sweets and I don't have any control over that...it's not Joshua!) and the serving was 1/16 of the cake and it was something close to 400 calories!!!!! WOW! The only useful thing that I could think of that I would be getting from that would be a grain serving...maybe! So it has helped me to just think more about what I am eating. 5) Eat things that are good for you and find things that will fill you up. It takes a lot more cookies to make you feel full as opposed to, say, an apple or carrots, and it's pretty obvious what's better for my body!

Third, as I want very much to get back to wearing smaller clothes and not feeling like a frump-o-la at times I have to remember (a lady at church has graciously reminded me of this) that it took 9 months for your body to make a baby so it's ok for it to take a while to go back to normal. That is so good for me to remember. As with most things in life the things that you have to wait for are usually worth that wait. So I can give myself a break while at the same time pushing myself to persevere in much of what I wrote in #2 because I guess like most people the weight is not going to fall off of me.

Fourth, much of these thoughts come from a very helpful book that I just read, "Loving the Little Years". Let me just say that this book was SO encouraging and convicting at the same time. I would recommend it for any mom with little kids. I would say don't read it before you have kids though...it might scare you off! Anyway the author talks about being joyful because your body is used and maybe even scared because you have had kids. I had never thought of this before, but that should be my response. I can be joyful in the fact that the reason that I have gross stretch marks on my tummy and that I weigh more than my husband is because of the HUGE, WAY MORE IMPORTANT THAN MY WEIGHT BLESSING THAT IS MY SON AND DAUGHTER!!! This thought is at cultural odds. Our culture tells us to worry about number one and anything that we give of ourselves better be repaid to us because that's fair and we shouldn't have to suffer. Christ calls us to sacrifice ourselves for the sake of others (He calls us to do this in many ways) and one way he calls mothers to do this is to give up (for a season) being your ideal weight. Put that on a magazine cover and see how many copies you will sell!

I thought I had a lot more...maybe I do but it's getting late and I didn't take a nap today...it was too nice outside to stay in while the kids slept! I guess the only other thing I've thought about is to set goals. So for me. 1) Run a 5K in Sept. 2) Run a 5K in Dec. 3) Only eat sweets for special occasions. 4) Get back to pre pregnancy weight by the new year. 5) Remind myself often that while this is important it doesn't need to be consuming and there are more important things in life.

When your kids are sick

2011-08-13T08:36:00.001-07:00

Anna is not feeling well tonight. I'm not sure what is wrong and where she may have picked it up but her tummy seems to be upset. So as I've been sitting here I've been thinking.

1. Be thankful for her cuddles right now since she is not normally very cuddly.
2. Be thankful that I even have a sweet baby girl to hold and take care of...some people don't have babies to take care of.
3. Learn to joyfully give up my own desires in order to serve my daughter. (I wanted to work out, among other things)
4. Learn to give sacrificially and do it without grumbling or complaining. (I expect to not get much sleep tonight)
5. Use this opportunity to teach Daniel to have compassion for his sister and teach him to serve his sister.
6. Look forward to the new creation, when there will be no more sickness.
7. Pray that Anna and Daniel will be saved so that they will experience life in the new creation.

That's as far as I got thinking last night about this, but I thought I'd share it for what it's worth!

*She's feeling better today

The Coolest 91 Year Old I Know

2011-08-09T11:42:00.000-07:00

Just over a year ago we moved into a house with Betsy. She turned 90 the weekend we moved in and we have now lived here a year! I've been reflecting on the blessings of living here with her and thought I'd share them! I don't know any other 91 year olds but even if I knew more, she'd still be the coolest! Here's the list of what I've learned from her and how we've been blessed by her and funny things about her.

1. She lets us live in her house and loves our kids like they are her own grandkids. What 91 year old actually enjoys having a two year old tearing around her house and leaving toys around? And what 91 year old gets excited that we just added another kid to the mix?!

2. She doesn't worry. Or at least not much at all. She said to me once how much of a waste of time it is to worry about what you have no control over.

3. She is generous with what she has. Whether Betsy had much or little she would be generous with it. She enjoys giving people things that would be useful to them and she gives much. She has said more than once that she's not taking her money with her so she might as well use it here. I admire how willing she is to give it away.

4. She loves flowers! Betsy is a great admirer of flowers and she doesn't tire of marveling at how beautiful they are! One thing that she has taught me is the joy of giving your flowers away. I don't know why I had never thought of doing this but Betsy loves to cut the flowers in her yard and bring them in the house and also give them to friends. I had always thought the flowers are in the yard and we should keep them in the yard but Betsy is of the opinion that we can enjoy them more inside on our table! I agree. I also love how she has taught me to give flowers away. She will call her friends and tell them to come over and take a bloom from the latest flower gracing her yard. This is a simple act but brings such joy to her and others!

5. If you want to know the best place to get a particular food just ask Betsy! If you want a pork chop go to KT's, shrimp is at Longhorns, shrimp and grits are at Cafe Lou Lou's, any kind of seafood, go to Captain's Quarters. The list could go on and on!

6. She says really funny things. Here are some of the best.

1. In reference to Daniel, “He’s cuter today than he was yesterday.”
2. “The problem with all those liberals is they’re liberal.”
3. “How’d it get so late so early?”
4. “I don’t know how people could be against wine, after all, it all through the
Bible.”
5.“You do not pick on flowers; they are delicate – like me!”
6. “I’m not stubborn; I just know that when I’m right, I’m right.”
7. “We have a lot of frozen dinners; no one is gonna starve to death.”
8. “I repeat myself because I must believe you don’t remember too well.”
9. Just let him go out and play between the yellow lines
10. “Ya know, it just does not know whether to raid today or not.”
11. “You know, the problem with criminals is that they’re stupid.”
12. “Let me put my hearing aid in so I can see you.”
13. “If you are going to get by in this world, then you have to learn to get along with
liberals.”
14. “Speaking of peanuts, I don’t care too much for Jimmy Carter.”
15. “Only nice people camp.”
16. “The only good moth is a dead moth.”
17. “This knife would not cut hot butter.”
18. “I would rather have a piece of crust outside than a banquet inside.”
19. “Oooooo, wonderful!”
20. “Blessed are those who go in many small circles, for they shall be called big
wheels.”
21. “I never met a blueberry I didn’t like.”
22. “As I always say, ‘I would rather leave the house without my undies than my
earrings.’”
23. “I don’t feel like doing anything – and that includes everything.”
24. “Luck in cards, unlucky in love.”
25. “You know what they say, ‘Dinner is ready when the smoke alarm goes off.’”
26. “You know what they say, ‘If a man answers, hang up.’”
27. “Ya know, God doesn’t give us more than we can handle, but sometimes we wish he didn’t have so much confidence in us.”
28. “You'll recognize me in Heaven by my long legs and curly hair. I'll be on the dance floor.”

I am so thankful for Betsy and the time we have gotten to live with her. I look forward to more years!

Small Victories

2011-08-06T03:38:00.000-07:00

Joshua and I were just about to fall asleep the other night when we woke up to Daniel coughing really hard. He just couldn't seem to stop coughing, so I went in there, picked him up and offered him water. As the coughing went on and I could start to hear him wheezing I could feel the vice-like grip of fear squeezing my heart. Daniel stopped coughing and we put him to bed but I could still hear the wheezing. I decided to sleep on the guest bed in Daniel's room so I could keep an eye on him...his breathing wasn't getting worse but it wasn't getting better either. There are a lot of awful things to listen to in this world and one of the worst I think is listening to someone struggle to breath...and it's 100x worse when it's your child. So while I am thinking of what I can do to help him that fear just begins to grow. "What if he gets worse?" "Do I know what to do to help him?" "What if we have to go to the ER?" "What if the ER is really full and we have to wait a long time, will he stop breathing?" "What if Anna gets sick?" "What if Anna or Daniel die?" Yes, that really is how my mind works.

The small victory is that even though I did ask myself all those questions, I realized I was being fearful and worrying and knew that I needed to pray and ask the Lord to take all that fear. Daniel has been memorizing verses and one of them is Psalm 56:3, "When I am afraid, I will trust in You [God]." That verse helped me so much that night. I recognized that I needed to do what I could to keep helping Daniel, even take him to the ER if needed. But ultimately I could trust God for everything involved in this situation. As I put my trust in God that hold the fear had on my heart slipped away. God is kind because I can't trust Him without Him giving me the ability to trust Him. So it's small but encouraging to me!

I'll start blogging again....

2011-07-31T04:20:00.000-07:00

I decided that I'll try to start blogging again some. A lot of my pictures get posted on facebook, but even though I have no idea if anyone reads this I thought I'd give it a shot.

So for my first post back I thought I would share two really yummy recipes that my friend Jena gave me. She is a great cook and baker and I don't ever have to worry that her recipes may not turn out so well! I'm not sure where she got the chicken recipe but I know she made up the rice one...both are amazing...I'm not pregnant anymore and I crave this meal often!

Honey Spice Chicken

3 lbs chicken, cut into bite size pieces
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup mustard (I like to use stone ground)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp curry powder
garlic to taste (1-2 cloves)

Mix together all ingredients besides chicken in a large bowl. Add chicken pieces and marinate at least a half an hour. Pour chicken and marinade in a foil lined pan with sides in ONE layer. Broil for 4-5 minutes on one side. Remove from oven and turn all pieces over. Broil for another 4-5 minutes.

Caribbean Coconut Rice

2 cups water
2 cups long grain white rice (I like Jasmine the best)
1 can coconut milk
1 tsp fresh chopped zest from one lime
1/4 green onion (in a pinch you can use onion powder)
1 generous tsp kosher salt or 1 regular tsp if regular salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
2--3 minced garlic cloves
1/4 cup sugar

Mix together in a medium pot. Bring to a soft boil and stir. Simmer 20 minutes, stirring half way through. Remove from heat and let sit for a couple minutes.

Sorry I don't have any pictures...if I did you would be drooling right now.

We had a Baby!!!

2011-07-30T19:50:00.000-07:00

Her name is Anna!

Oriental Pasta Salad

2010-07-08T07:15:00.000-07:00

My mom's good friend Donna from Massachusetts gave my mom this recipe and then I got it from my mom. I don't make it very often because it makes a ton of salad, but I decided to make it for last night's potluck dinner at church. I figured it would get eaten up since there is no food left over at the church potluck. Turns out we got there late and most people had eaten, so we ended up with a lot of it back home! That's ok, it's good and Joshua and I both like it! A friend said last night that it looked like worms. I can assure you(even though I haven't eaten worms, it's better than worms). And it's easy, which is always a plus for me!

4 packs Oriental flavor ramon noodles
2 cups frozen peas
2-3 bunches scallions chopped
1/4 head shredded red cabbage
1/2 cup roasted unsalted peanuts

Dressing:
1/2 cup veggie oil
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
3 of the oriental flavor seasoning packets
dash of soy sauce

Boil the noodles for about 30 seconds. Drain and mix all the ingredients together. Add the dressing and mix. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

Serve this salad with teriyaki chicken!!

Garden Fun

2010-07-06T21:34:00.000-07:00

We will be moving into a house that we will be sharing with the lady that actually owns the house and I will probably post more on that later...but this post is about the garden that she has in her back yard. We spent a few days over at her house (we haven't moved yet) and I spent some time picked gobs and gobs of weeds. Daniel had a fun time exploring the garden and we got some cute pictures!!

Working on a quiet book

2010-06-19T18:00:00.000-07:00

In an earlier post I had pictures of the first quiet book that I made for Daniel. I thought I would post some picture of the one that I am working on now. It is not complete or put together at all, but it's coming together well and I am pleased with it so far!!

"Can you put some flowers in the vase for Mommy?"

"Help me get dressed!"

"Can you make a phone call?"

Match the shapes.

"Write a letter or draw a picture and mail it"

The letters are stuck to the page with velcro so you can attach and reattach them!

The Quirks and Favs of Daniel

2010-06-19T17:17:00.000-07:00

Walking around hitting things with the fly swatter(don't worry it's clean!)

Putting on mommy's running shorts.

Eating!!

Playing on the pillow "mountain"

Talking on the phone

Putting the letters in and out of the container.

And on a different note...I am loving my new boots that I used to keep mud off myself while I picked weeds the other day.

Dad's Blueberry Crisp

2010-06-17T19:02:00.000-07:00

When we lived in Utah my parents were friends with Bill and Sarah Robertson. I have a distinct memory of a time we went over to their apartment, they were like second parents to my brother and me--I recall they watched us when my parents would go out of town. Anyway, I remember this time when we went over to their apartment because my dad created on accident the most amazing blueberry crisp I have ever had! The way I remember it was that he was starting to make cookies--Sand Tarts--which are a Pennsylvania traditional cookie(I'll have to put that recipe on here sometime!) Well he forgot to put the eggs in until it was too late to mix them in, so he decided to use it as a topper for blueberries and bake it. WOW!!! Taste bud delight!! So here is the accidental dessert. Note that it's super easy!

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter, softened
1 cup flour
4-5 cups frozen or fresh blueberries

Cream the sugar and butter together. Mix in the flour. You want it to be crumbly. Put the blueberries into a baking dish, spread the covering over it and bake at 350 degrees until the crust starts to get golden brown. It's really good warm or cold. Ice cream is a great addition but not necessary!

Here's a picture to wet your appetite!

A Quiet Book

2010-06-17T16:18:00.000-07:00

I first learned of what a quiet book was a few weeks ago when I was looking over this friends blog. I then found this blog that had more ideas about making a quiet book. I started out with a simple one that was just of colors. That one Daniel gets to look at when we are at church and he is sitting with us. I don't know when I will have the second one done...it is more advanced(skill wise for what Daniel would do with it) so I am thinking that I will give it to him for Christmas...that also gives me a long time to work on it! Here are some pictures of the first quiet book that I have made.

Daniel Update

2010-06-17T13:46:00.000-07:00

This summer is going to be a busy fun one! Daniel is walking around and loving to explore. It's been great fun to have him toddling around the backyard and parking lot of our apartment complex. Everything is new to him and it's so fun to see him learn things about his world. It amazes me how he knows things that I don't even think that I have taught him. Like, the other day we were out in the parking lot and he picked up a pine cone and held it up above his head and pointed with the other hand to the trees. I don't remember ever telling him that the pine cones come from the pine tree, but he picked it up somewhere.

What is it about dirt that is so exciting for little kids? He loves to just play in it! And eat it!

His favorite word is "UP" right now. He repeats "UP" over and over as he is going up the stairs. He comes to me and holds his hand up and says "UP." He wants to go "UP" on the bed. He wants to go "UP" on the grass from down in our patio area. He says "UP" when he's going down the stairs!

With Daniel's new ability to walk has has really come to enjoy the park. So we are finding out about different parks in the area. Daniel has learned how to go down the slide on his tummy. And he thoroughly enjoys walking back and forth over the bridges on the jungle gym. There are a few parks that have water spouts, which is fantastic because it has been getting quite hot.

Daniel has gone strawberry picking...of which he was a fan!

Today he experienced blueberry picking...his favorite part is sampling them....by the fistfuls.

We will get to see family off and on throughout the summer and of course Daniel is the highlight for everyone that we go see!

Joshua and I have decided to start bringing Daniel up to the first part of the Sunday morning worship. We have noticed that he does not know how to sit still very well. So we decided that since he likes music, and the part of the service before the sermon is mostly singing, that we would start helping him learn how to sit quietly. We have books for him to look at and I think we have a long road ahead of us! We've done this for two weeks, so I know that I shouldn't expect much but I just need to keep that in perspective! I have started making a quiet book for him to look at during this time. I have had a great time making it!

*My next post I am working on is going to show the progress that I have been making on a quiet book for Daniel.

Quiet Books

2010-05-16T06:45:00.000-07:00

Have you ever heard of a quiet book? I had not until I was looking at this friends website. I am so inspired to make one for Daniel. She had this other site linked to her blog and it has so many cute ideas! I think I'll start out simple though and do something like the colors book and then maybe move on to more ambitious pages!

Thoughts on Running

2010-05-06T06:51:00.000-07:00

How does running glorify God?

If we are as Christians supposed to live to glorify God, and I think we are, how does running and spending time training for a half marathon bring God glory? There must be a way to run that doesn’t glorify God. It’s probably the easier way, it doesn’t take thought or effort to not run for the glory of God. At least for me, it takes thought to see how I run can be something that glorifies God. This may seem like a strange question to a non-Christian, it must sound mad, but I guess as a Christian that’s what I am supposed to do. I should be thinking differently about life because I am different. Maybe this is apart of what it mean to be a peculiar people. Running is not just running. People are complicated so I guess I would say that for all people at the most basic level, running is not just running. We all have motivation so I can run for myself or I can run for God. Some would say that is why you should run for a cause, like cancer research or orphanages in Africa; those are good things, and I think give meaning to something as hedonistic as running. But I think that although running for a cause is good and adds to the depth of people’s motivations, it still misses the mark.

Running reminds me of the passages in the New Testament where Paul uses the image of an athlete to encourage us on in our walk as a believer. Running takes effort. So does the journey of a Christian. Running is hard work and walking according to God’s ways is not easy. Running requires endurance and perseverance, as does the Christians walk. This scratches the surface of how running reminds, encourage, and challenges the Christian in their walk with the Lord.

As I run I feel the pain of the strain on my muscles. It made me think of how my body is not perfect. It’s not perfect because of the fall. I am wasting away. My body is not naturally able to run mile upon mile. I have to work hard to run any short length let alone 13.1 miles. This makes me realize that I am not God. If God were to run, he would be able to run forever without hurting or getting tired. How does remembering my humanity bring glory to God? God is glorified when I realize that I am not God because I then realize that He is God.

The frailty of my body also makes me remember that I am not going to live on this world forever. Even though I can run and get in shape my body will always be going downhill. So I will be reminded each time that run that I am destined for a new home.

I also thought the other day about how my body is created by God to work. I decide in my mind that I want to run and start putting my legs one in front of the other and I want to go faster so my mind sends a signal to my brain to speed up. Obviously this is a very simple explanation of what goes on, but it just shows that God created me and sustains me. The complicated way that my body works when I run is a testament to the power of God.

Thinking on these things helps me love God and glorify him more. Running can be done to the glory of God.

Daniel's Day

2010-05-05T17:58:00.000-07:00

7:14am

7:18am

8:05am

8:28am

8:41am

9:22am

9:26am

10:15-11:30 Naptime

11:32am

11:50am

11:57am

12:34pm

12:50pm

2:25pm

2:29pm

2:47pm

3:15-4:15pm Naptime

4:15pm

The rest of the day was spent eating dinner and at church. I forgot to bring my camera for those parts. Daniel had a good, full day!

Plans Change

2010-05-04T04:12:00.000-07:00

I was going to do a day in the life of Daniel through pictures today. But he woke up screaming just about every 2 hours last night for some reason that I have not a clue about. So I am tired and in a non happy go lucky mood, so we'll shoot for tomorrow.

Sanctity of Life

2010-01-25T06:14:00.001-08:00

I got to share at church yesterday about my experience of volunteering at A Woman's Choice Resource Center, which is the local crisis pregnancy center. Here is what I said.

Before I had a baby of my own, I had the privilege of volunteering at A Woman's Choice Resource Center (AWC). The main location is on 1st and Market streets which is on the same block as the abortion clinic. AWC also has a counseling center on Trio Ave. and Necole's Place is on Elm. street. I want to share how I have been blessed through volunteering there, ways that I have seen God work through the ministry of AWC, how you can get involved, and how you can pray.

Since I was about 8 or 9 years old I have had the desire to volunteer in a counseling center. My mom volunteered at a pregnancy center and she would take my brother and me with her and we would do homework or play while she taught classes to the women there. For some reason seeing what she did there put a desire in me to want to do something similar. I finally got the chance to do that when Joshua and I moved here. So God has blessed me by fulfilling the desire that I had to serve in a pregnancy center.

I have also been blessed through serving at AWC by being trained how to counsel women who are in a variety of different situations. It was a growing and stretching process for me to learn how to listen to women and speak truth to them. Another blessing I received was having opportunities to share the gospel with many of the women I spoke with.

A few of the ways that I have seen God at work through the ministry of AWC is that this month they were raising money for a new ultrasound machine and God provided all the money that they needed to purchase it! Women do change their mind about getting an abortion. I don't have any specific stories that stick out in my mind. But there were a few women who after talking with me, seeing a ultrasound decided to wait a week and think things over. Some of them came back and talked with other counselors and ultimately decided not to abort their baby. Another blessing of God is that women have accepted the gospel and have gotten plugged in to Necole's Place, where they have had the opportunity to be discipled.

Ways that people can get involved!
~Do sidewalk counseling and praying. This means go stand outside the abortion clinic and pray and speak to those who are willing to listen.
~Volunteer at one of the centers. Answering phones, counseling, organizing donations, caring for kids at Necole's Place, teaching classes or Bible studies at Necole's Place or cleaning. That's just to list a few things. Go here for more ideas on how you can get involved.

How can you pray?
~Pray that God would continue to change women's hearts about abortion and their need for the gospel.
~Pray that churches in Louisville would faithfully and boldly proclaim the gospel.
~Pray that AWC would continue to have money to stay open and keep providing services to women.
~Pray that the workers at AWC would remain faithful to speaking the truth compassionately.

Amelia's 2010 Reading List

2010-01-11T08:12:00.000-08:00

I told Joshua last night that one of my new years goals was to have a reading list....His response was "Make it attainable." He knows me well! I haven't had a chance to ask him is he has any goals for this year. My guess is that since he is starting the PhD program, he will not have an extensive reading list. My guess is that it will be his goal to read one book that is not for school reading. But since this is his first semester as a PhD student we have yet to find out what his reading load will be like.

Anyway, in no particular order here is my reading list. I asked for suggestions from facebook friends and got some good ideas. I decided that I needed to put some books on here that I have wanted to read for a while or ones that I have started and then stopped. And we have about 5 books shelves so figured that I had plenty to choose from that we already had!

1. What is Art? by Leo Tolstoy
2. Eugenics and Other Evils by G.K. Chesterton
3. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft
4. Pleasing People by Lou Priolo
5. Shepherding a Child's Heart by Ted Tripp
6. The Courage to Be Protestant by David F. Wells
7. A Help to Domestic Happiness by John Angell James
8. In My Place Condemned He Stood by J. I. Packer, Mark Dever, J. Ligon Duncan, and C. J. Mahaney
9. Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
10. Marriage and Family in the Middle Ages by Frances and Joseph Gies

So there it is!

On a different note. I am way behind the times but I figured out today how to put podcasts on my MP3 player and now can listen to those as I run! I have a sermon by John Piper, a Cartalk episode, and Radio Lab episode ready to listen to!

Free Tortured for Christ Book

2010-01-10T11:09:00.000-08:00

If you haven't read this book, about the founder of Voice of the Martyrs you should order your free copy here. You can also send it to friends who have never read it either.

Snow Pictures

2010-01-09T06:56:00.000-08:00

New Year's Resolutions

2010-01-08T13:07:00.001-08:00

I worked at the hospital New Years Eve. I try to find interesting things to talk about with my patients while I'm in the room with them. I asked one patient if he had any resolutions for the new year. He said, " I gave those up 20 years ago." He's not the first person that I've heard remark condescendingly about new years resolutions. In my short life I've vacillated between should I or should I not make new years resolutions. I've been cynical about making resolutions because I've thought, "How contrived and constricting to make a goal to do...(fill in the blank)", or I've said to myself, "it's not spontaneous enough" or I've just thought it's cheesy to have grand and lofty aspirations at the beginning of the year that mostly don't get accomplished. But I think I'm changing my mind.

I think part of the reason so many are so cynical about making goals and resolutions to change is because they have failed so often in the past. But is that a reason to not try again? I was really encouraged by this post on the girltalk blog. One reason we don't reach all of our goals is because we try to do it on our own, apart from strength from God. But that should not stop us from trying again, asking humbly for help from One for whom nothing is impossible. Whether people specifically recognize it or not, I think people give up making goals because they realize they are weak, lack motivation, and are given to failing.

So why make goals? My father in law had a great post on making goals. I would encourage anyone to read it.

I am going to make goals for this year because I see ways in which I can use my time more wisely. So my goals will be an effort to evaluate how I spend my time and look for ways that I can spend it better. I am also going to make goals that will hopefully challenge me. I also want to make goals that are measurable and attainable. As I've stated before, I can have the tendency to make really lofty goals. I also think that I will get more accomplished by having goals. I think that evaluating where you are and what you want to do may help identify things that have or could become idols in my life. I think I will have more freedom by disciplining myself to accomplish certain goals.

I have been reading "Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life" by Donald Whitney. In it he talks about how discipline brings freedom. I had to think about this one for a bit because it goes again my free natured self. But it's true. He used the example of someone who is able to use scripture throughout their prayers. The freedom to know and use scripture in prayers comes from the discipline of memorizing scripture on a regular basis. That is just one example but the of freedom through discipline has many applications.

So with God's help I make resolutions for the coming year. With His help I will keep them. I am sure I will not keep all my resolutions because I am a weak human, but I will try. Here they are:

1. I will only watch LOST and 1 hour of other TV a week. (I watch too much TV and love it too much)
2. I will train for a half marathon that is in April. (Physical activity is good, it's something I can do with Joshua and Daniel and I think it's attainable)
3. I will read through the Daily Bible. (I have never read through the Bible in a year)
4. I will memorize the scripture that is suggested to be memorized for small group and bible study. (I am lazy about memorizing scripture, but this is worth working on and totally doable.)
5. I will read Daniel's Bible to him every day. (I want to get into the habit of reading Scripture with Daniel)
6. I will make a book list to read through this year. ( I have time to read, I like to read, and I'll read more if I have a list)
7.I will wait 15 minutes after eating a first helping of food to decide if I am still hungry and want more. (I eat fast and feel hungry and then eat more only to realize that I'm not really hungry and am then too full)
8. I will attempt to have someone over for dinner once a week (This has been something Joshua and I have wanted to do and have not done a good job at, so we'll try again this year.)

So, I think that's it for this year. I might add more. We'll see. What do you think about making resolutions? What are yours if you've made them? If you don't make resolutions, what is the reason?

Snow!

2010-01-08T12:18:00.000-08:00

Yesterday it snowed here! I was at work so Joshua took Daniel outside for a few minutes, but the camera batteries were all dead, so when Daniel gets up from his nap, we'll go out and play and hopefully get some good pictures.

Daniel and I went to the track again to today and ran 2 miles in 20 minutes! Not bad I think for a second run!

Pictures to come...

miniMarathon Madness

2010-01-06T19:05:00.000-08:00

Two years ago Joshua ran the Derby marathon and I got inspired to consider running a half marathon. Needless to say last April was not a good time to try and run one as Daniel was 3 months old. But this April I think is a good time to attempt it! So, with 100 something days left until the Derby Festival miniMarathon I officially started training today! Joshua tells me often that I need to make attainable goals--I think this one is attainable. I tend to make really grand, crazy goals and don't end up finishing them--like making the goal to read through an entire encyclopedia set. Or making the goal to bike on a stationary bike to equivalent of riding from Maine to Washington! I think I got to the middle of the "A" encyclopedia and I rode about 200 miles. So is it madness to run 13 miles? Quite possibly. But I think this goal is reachable!

Joshua is going to train with me so we are going to be pushing Daniel in the running stroller. Daniel likes going on walks so he should be content to "train" with us!

It's been in the 20s here so today I went to the seminary and ran on their track, which is on the 3rd floor and an inferno! Note to self: No more wearing running pants...it's gotta be shorts. I'm following the training schedule that is on the Derby Festival run website. So today Daniel and I embarked on a 2 mile track run. It wasn't too bad...I haven't really run since the beginning of December so it was a little slower than I would like, but hey, there's room for much improvement!

Part of my madness is in how I'm trying to get two college friends to come run it with us! You know who you are are girls...you should do it!

I was reading a friend's website today and he was talking about training to run a half marathon and possibly a marathon and doing it raise awareness/money for a worthy reason. So that got me to thinking. A friend from church had already talked about maybe getting our small group to run it together and raise money for a specific person...So I thought of that again today and I think it's a good idea. I'll have to talk to a few people and work out details before I'm sure if this specific idea will work, but I think it might.

i work tomorrow and I'll practically walk a marathon (not really), but there is no way that I'm coming home from work and running. So Friday it's another 2 miler and Saturday it's 3.

Birthday Traditions

2009-12-28T12:48:00.000-08:00

First of all, thanks mom for watching Daniel so Joshua and I could go on a date while we were in Texas!

While on our date, Joshua and I started talking about birthday traditions. Daniel's birthday is coming up soon and we have not thought about what kind of traditions we want to start. I read Noel Piper's book about family traditions and treasuring Christ in those traditions but that was a while ago so I don't really remember specifics! We both decided that I should look at that chapter again and we can talk about this topic again. But we did continue our discussion. Some of the things we talked about were what is the point that we want to get across in the celebration of birthdays? > It seemed like that was a good question to start with because then that would drive what we decide to do. We decided that we want it to be a celebration of the person (kinda obvious!) and a way to treasure the gospel and Christ. So with that, our next question was what are things that we can do to make it a celebration of the person, but make sure they don't think the world revolves around them? What things can you do honor Christ or make much of the gospel in a birthday celebration?

We also talked about the importance of having traditions because it gives stability and expectation for Daniel and any future kids that we have. We are probably going to be living overseas and might have a somewhat varied schedule, so we think having traditions would help give continuity to a child's life. So we want whatever we do for birthdays to be something that can be easily replicated with multiple children in varied settings.

We don't like the idea of giving other siblings a present on the birthday of another sibling as seems to be the current trend. It seems like it would be a valuable lesson to teach the children who's birthday it is not, to rejoice for their sibling who is getting gifts and having attention given to them.

And we didn't get much further than this. We are having a hard time coming up with tangible things you can do and not just say that will give a birthday celebration more meaning than only the celebration of the persons life. So we decided to ask our parents and others what they did/thought on this subject. So if anyone actually reads this and has traditions that they do, or ideas they have heard of for birthday traditions we'd love to hear them. We are specifically looking for ideas about how to have a gospel centered, Christ exalting birthday celebration.

Christmas!

2009-12-25T17:55:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

We here in Texas enjoyed a rare thing-SNOW!!! Yesterday my dad got up saying, "It's going to snow." Joshua and I thought he was crazy since the day before we had thrown Frisbee in 70 degree weather! No, he insisted, "It's going to snow." Thirty minutes later what we saw out the window proved him right! It snowed just about all day. What a treat for us to have a white Christmas.

We enjoyed a Christmas Eve service at Hillcrest Baptist-my parents church. Daniel enjoyed the music and playing with the candle before it was lit. It was great to sit down and think about the greatest gift of all- Jesus Christ. We are amazed at God's gift to us, that he would give His Son to live on earth and then die for our sins. Praise God for the resurrection too!

A fun family tradition that we introduced Daniel to after the church service was opening one Christmas present. This Christmas Eve present is always PJs! The PJs are to be worn that night and the next morning we open our presents in them! Daniel enjoyed the paper! We also had some chicken noodle soup and a tradition from Joshua'
s family--onion sandwiches!

Daniel in his new PJs...they were nice and fuzzy and warm!

Daniel got up at about 7:15, so we all got up and started making breakfast. After breakfast we read Daniel's advent Christmas story and then started opening presents. Daniel made it about halfway through the opening of presents and then went to bed for a couple of hours, during which we continued opening presents and then started putting finishing touches on food!

Gregory and I made dressing balls and green bean casserole. We also had turkey,ham, rolls, cranberry sauce, potatoes, and pumpkin pie. Yum-o!

Grandma Rannels joined us for lunch. She really enjoyed Daniel's antics!

The rest of the afternoon was spent by various people taking naps (Daniel included!), playing Rock Band, watching some home videos circa 1987 (gotta love those clothing styles), playing games and chatting with each other and other family members who aren't here.

It's been a great Christmas day and we are blessed. In the words of Dad Greever, "being together is the best part!"

Back at it

2009-12-18T11:42:00.000-08:00

After taking along break from the blog, we'll start back at it! Here's our Christmas letter for a quick run down of what's been going on with us this year. And I'll post some pictures from this morning...we opened our Christmas presents this morning. We will be traveling to my family's home this Christmas so we wanted to celebrate here with Daniel his first Christmas. We had a special breakfast, read our advent story and opened presents. Daniel loved the wrapping paper and understood that we wanted him to take it off of the presents! Here's our Christmas update!

Merry Christmas from the Greevers! This year has been full of change, and we are so thankful that in the midst of it all we have the hope of eternal life through Christ, whose birth we celebrate. Here are a few highlights from our year.

On February 4th we welcomed Daniel Abraham Greever into the world. He was born after a difficult labor—we are so thankful that the Lord protected both baby and mom. We thought when we took Daniel home from the hospital that he did not have any significant health concerns, but we found out when he was 9 days old that he needed to have surgery to fix a narrowing of his aorta. He had this surgery when he was 17 days old. God was gracious in causing this surgery to be effective and, when Daniel was 6 months old, the cardiologist said Daniel could go a year before another check up! Another health concern we have dealt with is that while Daniel was in the hospital they started some genetic testing to rule out any syndrome as a cause for his heart defect. God saw fit to grow our faith in Him over about 8 months of waiting for final results of this testing. We are thankful that all the testing has come back normal. We will have a check up with the geneticist when Daniel is a year old and we hope that no additional testing will need to be done. On the lighter side, Daniel frequently practices words like “ra-ra-ra” and “da-da-da,” as well as rolls around on our carpet! Soon he will be crawling and (even!) walking. We are thankful for and have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know him!

In May Joshua graduated from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary here in Louisville with his Master of Divinity. He was interested in pursuing a Ph.D. in New Testament studies at the seminary, and in September he was accepted. He took German this fall in preparation to start his studies this coming spring. He continues to work the weekend night shift as a security guard as well as weekdays at our local mall’s Chick-fil-A. Also, our church started an internship program that Joshua is participating in until May 2010.

Amelia is enjoying the joys and trials of motherhood. She is thankful to be able to work only 3 days a month at the hospital, which allows her to be home with Daniel a great deal. This fall she has been able to attend a women’s Bible study at church. She has also been able to participate in a Bible study for the wives of our church’s interns. She has greatly enjoyed both.

We are continuing to meet with our small group from church, which is a blessing. Joshua is co-leading the group since the previous leaders are now doing mission work.

Other small tidbits of news include that we moved off campus in May as Joshua was no longer a seminary student. Our new apartment is a few blocks from our church so we often enjoy walking to the services.

We have gotten to see our families at various points throughout the year, for which the grandparents are very grateful!

We have seen God’s faithfulness in the midst of the small and big changes of this year and we look forward to His continued faithfulness in the coming year. May God richly bless you as well!

Joshua, Amelia, and Daniel Greever

My favorite thing is...milk!

2009-03-26T13:35:00.000-07:00

I get to eat! Yay!!

Am I done, or do I want more?

That was really good, thanks mom!

Dog Gone Cute

2009-03-20T16:07:00.000-07:00

Great Grandma Rannels bought this outfit for Daniel.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2009-03-17T19:48:00.000-07:00

Daniel Abraham Greever

2009-03-03T10:15:00.000-08:00

God has taken us on a very different journey in bringing our son home. This post is long in coming, because a lot has happened in the past month. Here is a letter that we sent out to our church to let them know what was going on right around the time Daniel was born.

Thank you so much for your faithfulness in praying for us for this past week. It has been so comforting to know that our God is in control and that He has a plan for His glory to be displayed in the most unexpected ways. This is a letter letting you all know what has recently transpired in our lives and how you can pray for us.

I (Amelia) am doing so much better the past few days than I had been doing the end of last week and weekend. While I was giving birth to Daniel I had to be put on medication that was supposed to keep my blood pressure down (the concern with my blood pressure being high was the risk of my having seizures), because it was still very high when they began the inducement of labor. This medication was given in order to relax my body and thus lower my blood pressure, but a side effect was that it also makes contractions stop. As a result, they had to put me on another medication to keep the contractions going. We praise the Lord that I was able to deliver Daniel without having a C-section, which this was my number one desire (apart from a healthy baby and healthy me). After Daniel was born, I had to be kept on the medication for my blood pressure for about 24 more hours. This medication made me feel like my whole body was on fire and I could barely lift my arms and legs; this meant that the medication was working, but it made it very hard to do anything but lay in bed. Even while on this medication, my blood pressure would rise if I just sat up or tried to talk too much. Friday morning they stopped the medication and moved me from the room that I had delivered Daniel in to a regular post partum room. Even though my blood pressure was a little bit better, I still could not sit up or talk for long because it would make my blood pressure rise. We are thankful the Lord has begun lowering my blood pressure via a blood pressure medication pill that I will probably be taking for the next month or so.

Ways that you all can be praying for me specifically is that I would be able to get better rest. We do praise Him that I was able to sleep for 4 1/2 hours straight last night. (I have been pumping milk for Daniel and this has been tricky to figure out how to organize my day around sleep, eat, pump, and feed Daniel).

You can be praying that I would not worry about my blood pressure or about Daniel’s health. Sadly, I default to worry about what has happened or about what is going to happen rather than trusting our sovereign Lord. Trusting in the Lord would be my number one prayer request.

Now to tell you about Daniel, we praise the Lord for his life. Because of my having high blood pressure, which is a symptom of pre-eclampsia, I also had intrauterine growth restriction, which caused Daniel to not be able to grow. We praise the Lord that Daniel was able to withstand labor. For about the last 5 minutes of my pushing, they could not find his heartbeat. I did not know this at the time, but I could tell from the way they were telling me to push that it was very important for him to be born as soon as possible. The cord was wrapped one time around his neck as well, but once he was out he was fine. We are so thankful that even though he is small, he is definitely a fighter.

Because he is small and what they call a “late preterm” baby, he has had trouble knowing how to suck, and we have been concerned that he get enough to eat. I am planning on nursing him, so we did not want to confuse him with a bottle. My mom and the lactation consultant have taught us how to “finger feed” him, which means that we have a bottle that has a tube attached to it. The end of the tube gets taped to the pinky finger on which Daniel then sucks. In the 6 days that he has been eating this way, he has learned to suck a lot better and he has started gaining weight. We praise the Lord for this visible progress.

Daniel has had some trouble with jaundice because his bilirubin level has been high, which has kept him in the hospital longer than we expected. I think since Saturday (the days run together!) he has been off and on in the ultraviolet light that helps lower his bilirubin. We found out this afternoon that he will be under the bilirubin lights until 10 pm tonight, and then (if his levels are down) he will get to go home in the morning. Lord willing, he will see the pediatrician tomorrow morning. Even though I have been officially discharged from the hospital, they have let me stay here in a room right next to the nursery for free. We are very thankful to be able to stay close by to Daniel.

You can be praying that his bilirubin would not go back up whenever he is discharged and that he would continue to eat well and gain weight.

For Joshua, you all can be praying that he would be able to get rest as well. Pray that he would be able to balance work, school and taking care of us.

We would love to start having visitors; hopefully that will be when we get home in the morning. If you are really eager to see us, you could still see Joshua and me tonight—even though you probably will not be able to see Daniel. We are at Clark Memorial Hospital (Jeffersonville, IN) in room #4410 (remember, we are not actually admitted into the hospital, so you might have to hunt down the room number on your own!). If you choose to come by our apartment, please call beforehand so that you know we are at home. Amelia’s cell is 214-282-4780, and Joshua’s is 972-217-9364.

Thank you for all your prayers and thank you for understanding my need to rest so much and not have people come see us. We are so thankful for all of you and for all your prayers.

I don’t think we have had time to get our pictures off of our camera, but there should be a picture on this website, www.our365.com on which you should be able to do a search by our last name and see our little guy.

That's the end of the letter...we found our two days after we got to take Daniel home, that he had a narrow aorta and was going to have to have surgry to repair it. That as a hard time as well. Our son was so little and the thought of him having hart surgery was scary. The Lord has been so good to us in this though. We had great doctors and nurses and we had so many people praying for Daniel. We know that Daniel was then and still is in the Lord's hands. Daniel is two weeks out from having the surgery and he is doing really well. We went to the cardiologist today for a post operative checkup. The cardiologist said that he is very pleased with how Daniel is doing and he is very confident that Daniel is not going to be affected by this any more in his life. Another exciting thing to me was that they weighed him and he weighed 5 lbs 11.5oz!!

Here are some pictures of him!

Snow and 36 weeks preggo

2009-01-28T08:27:00.000-08:00

God Provides

2009-01-10T19:05:00.000-08:00

We have been blessed by God in Him providing a part time job for Joshua. As we are planning on having this baby, part of what we are thinking about is my work situation and the need for Joshua to work as I can cut back or hopefully stay at home full time. God gave Joshua a job as a night security guard at a local business. It's tough, because he has to stay up for 12 hours two nights in a row, but he gets 23 hours of work in very quickly! Pray for his endurance. Here's a picture of him in his uniform watching a snatch of football before he leaves for work!

Baby Happenings

2009-01-08T17:00:00.000-08:00

My parents arrived in Louisville today. They came to bring us a changing table that my Dad made and for my Mom to attend a baby shower with me this Saturday! Joshua and my Dad put the changing table together this afternoon! So exciting to see the baby room coming together!

The hungery catapillar book and stuffed toy from Grandma!

A friend, Mrs. Murray gave us a little hippo for the baby and my dad was practicing putting on cloth diapers!

Fun times!

Boomer Sooner!!!

Celebrations

2009-01-01T17:49:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Here are some shots of our celebrations!
Our beautiful Christmas tree.
I won a gift card to a one night stay at the Galt House, one of the nicer hotels in Louisville. These were some of the Christmas decorations in the lobby.
More decorations in the lobby-the house is made out of all real food! Yum-o!
We were in St. Louis for Christmas day! This is Josiah opening some gifts.
Jonathan opening gifts.
Jeremiah opening his gifts.
Joel REALLY likes Coke, which is what he is opening now-our gift to him!
Opening gifts from my parents. We were sad we could not be with them during this time.
A very nice fleece for Shua from my parents.
Mom Greever with the scarf we gave her and the necklace from Kim and Jonathan.
Dad Greever with quality reading, given to him by us.
Sitting down to Christmas dinner. Extra yum-o!
On the Saturday after Christmas, Trish and her sis, Tiffany, were passing through the Fenton area and we met up at McD's to chat!
Josiah had given us giftcards to QickTrip, and we loaded up on the goods before leaving the St. Louis area.
Diet caffiene free cherry vanilla Coke and the best chips ever!
Preggi picture-31 1/2 weeks along!
How excited we are to be having a baby soon!
A picture of our baby!!

Thanksgiving and Preggi Pics

2008-11-29T06:35:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving and what the baby looks like in me at 27 weeks.

23 1/2 weeks

2008-11-02T12:15:00.000-08:00

At 23 1/2 weeks pregnant, I feel that I am looking pregnant and going to stay looking pregnant! The baby is about 1 pound in weight and about 8 inches in length. The baby is currently making by back hurt too! Here's what I am looking like these days.

Things to do in the fall

2008-10-29T17:41:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, Joshua and I had planned on going to Huber's, which is a local farm, where you can pick your own apples, pumpkins, etc. Well it rained and rained all day so we went and registered for baby things instead. (No complaints from me...I was excited to do both!). Well we thought that we would go to Huber's this coming Saturday, but then were advised that there would be tons of people there...so we went this past Monday! And we were the only ones there going out in the fields picking apples and pumpkins. It was SOOooooooo cold! Picking the apples we were a little bit shielded by the trees, but out in the pumpkin patch, this is how Joshua felt!

We had the choice to pick Golden Delicious or Gold Rush apples. Since I don't really like the Golden Declicious we went with the Gold Rush. I haven't tried them yet, but Joshua has and he said they were really good.

We treked back to the main part of the farm, where they had a bake shop and got warm while we picked up some apple cider and some Jonathan apples. I had the inspiration from our friends Brian and Kami to make some applesauce. We got a half bushel of Jonathan apples and called up Kami to see if we could use thier food mill. I was quite surprised at how easy it was to make and it is very scrumptious.

First wash and quarter the apples. Dump into a pot with 1 cup of water per 9 apples. Bring that water to a boil then cover and simmer until the apples are mushy.
Mushy apples....wish you had a scratch and sniff screen...it smelled really good at this point!
Next you put the mushy apples and water into the food mill and turn and turn(thanks Joshua and lending a helping hand) until all the apple mush has turned into applesauce. So good-no sugar needed!
Ready to eat and freeze for later!

What else can you do with apples? APPLE PIE!!!!!!

I am so thankful that God made apples!

Here are a few more fall pictures for you viewing enjoyment. God is so creative!

22 Weeks

2008-10-22T10:10:00.000-07:00

Today marks Baby Greever's 22nd week of life! We had an ultrasound last week and everything looks great...still don't know if was are having a boy or girl!! We'll just have to wait a few more weeks until Baby G is born to find out! Here's a pic of me at 22 weeks pregnant. Oh yeah, once I can try and find someone who has a scanner, we'll put pics up here of the ultrasound pictures!

Ike passed through

2008-09-18T14:18:00.000-07:00

Recently, we have been taught to be thankful to God for electricity! This past Sunday as we were walking out of church, the wind started blowing fiercely. We knew it must be the winds of Ike moving through Kentucky. We went home and heated up some lunch-we were having friends over and I think got the lunch heated just in time! As we were eating I noticed that it was getting hotter and hotter in the apartment and the AC was not coming on. We realized that the power was out due to the wind. We didn't think much about it and kept on enjoying the time with our friends. It was really windy though. And there are tons of big trees in Louisville. In fact, this is the tree right outside our living room... Joshua and I figured that if it was blown over by the wind it should fall downhill, which would be away from us. We hoped!

Sunday afternoon people started emerging from their apartments since the wind had died down and there was no electricity. Joshua made an interesting point that electricity keeps us inside and we don't get out and spend time with people, especially our neighbors, as much when we have electricity, because we have so many reasons to be inside. Thankfully the storm brought with it cool air, so we were not roasting in our apartments.

The question now became, how long will be be without power. And what will we do to "make it" without power. The seminary was great and at 8pm Sunday night they threw together a quick dinner for anyone that needed it. (Joshua and I had eaten peanut butter and honey sandwiches but were thankful for some more food!) We took a walk and saw tons of branches and entire trees down.
Remember the tree right out side our apartment? This big branch snapped off quite easily. When we had been driving home from church that morning we saw a tree that had blocked an entire road and another that had fallen right across the train tracks. Little did we know Sunday morning, that the few trees and branches we saw would actually represnet what was to be a citywide problem. On Monday we took a bike ride and in one neighborhood there we at least 4 roads blocked and just as many, it not more power lines down.

On Monday we woke up to still no power and learned that the seminary was providing breakfast! Joshua and I enjoyed a nice walk before breakfast and then a yummy meal al fresco! There was enough hot water stored in the tank to take at least 1 hot shower! Thanks Joshua for letting me take it! We did a lot of reading together while it was light out, and Monday afternoon we found out that classes for Joshua were going to be canceled for the whole week. I know Joshua was disappointed about this, but it does give him a chance to work hard on homework!

I decided to get into the camping spirit and break out the gas camp stove! We had some leftovers in the fridge that I was determined we were not going to throw away. So here I am heating up our leftovers that we were getting tired of eating by the end of Monday! But we did not throw any away! Our friends Brian and Kami let us put some food in their fridge too, so we saved the dairy and meat that I had just gotten grocery shopping.

We ended up getting power back on Tuesday afternoon. Many of our friends though are still without power. I think it was estimated that 3000 power lines were damaged during this storm. And for some people that means that power will be restored maybe within 10 days! I started out this post by saying that we have been learning about being thankful to God for electricity. It is very easy to become accustomed to the convenience of having electricity and not think about what a blessing it it from God. But having it taken away for a brief time wakes you up to the fact that it is a mercy of God. We are thankful to have learned this lesson and are thankful that God has provided such a helpful things as electricity. We pray that our friends who are still waiting for power to come back on, would endure and persevere. Thank God today for all His blessings and His kindnesses, one of which is electricity!

The Past Few Weeks

2008-08-22T06:49:00.000-07:00

In the baby news this week, I am 14 1/2 weeks into pregnancy. I have finished my first trimester! Yippy! All in all it has been a mostly uneventful first trimester. And that is something for which I am very thankful. Joshua and I went to the doctor's a few weeks ago and everything was dandy. We heard the baby's heart beat with the doppler. When the doctor was first trying to find the heart beat she found it for a second and then the baby "ran away" from her and she had to re find it! Joshua and I were joking that our baby is already being mischievous! Oh yes, the baby is the size of a peach now!

We just recently got to spend some time in Texas seeing my family. Some highlights included: Celebrating Joshua's birthday with my family.
Seeing my roommate from college, Trish. And learning from my dad how to make paper.
Meeting part of my mom's family from PA, that she just met about 2 years ago.
Going to my Grandma's assisted living center to sing good 'ol songs with the residents. Also, Joshua got to share a devotional with them!
Went maternity clothes shopping with my mom. They had a "pillow" that simulated what I will be like in three months so I could see how the clothes were going to fit!
My dog, Misty, went into hunter mode and jumped out of the bushes by the house with a fuzz ball in her mouth. It was a disgusting rat! My dad and Joshua had a get it away from Misty into the trash can before she started eating it. Gross!
We had a game time and played bingo!
I was super excited too find one of my all time favorite childhood movies, "Shipwrecked" at a used movie store.
My mom and I volunteered at a free dentist clinic that was part of her church's apartment ministry.
Joshua and I got to spend a few hours with our friends, Brandon and Cindy! We talked a lot about missions with them and it was great!
We also got to spend time with Matt, Allison, their son Joshua and Hudson, Molly and their daughter Ava.

It was a great time to spend with family and friends. We were glad to have a break from work and school too!

A Walk Down the Produce Aisle

2008-07-30T07:45:00.002-07:00

Well this week, our baby graduates to a prune! According to "The Book" our baby is "growing by leaps and bounds". This week bones and cartilage are forming and there are indentations on the legs that are going to grow into knees and ankles. The baby's elbows are already working and tiny teeth buds are going to form in the baby's gums! The stomach is already producing digestive juices and this is the fact that you are all waiting for...the kidneys are producing urine! What a lovely thought that a large part of the amniotic fluid the baby is floating around in is urine! Ha! If we have a boy, this baby is going to start producing testosterone this week. Oh yeah, and now our baby has added a half inch to his/her length! Little baby is 1.5 inches long.

As for me the mommy, I have not had a whole lot a sickness (praise the Lord) and my main "symptom" is being tired. Naps are a wonderful addition to my day; when I can add them! It will be a while before there are any baby bump pictures posted. No baby bump yet, just a feeling of, "Hmmm, these shorts don't fit quite right anymore!"

So just for a fun little survey...who thinks we should find out the sex of our baby before he/she is born?

Our little olive

2008-07-24T07:27:00.000-07:00

Joshua and I have been spreading the news, but I thought I would blog about it too. We are expecting to have a baby sometime around the date of February 25th 2009! As I have been reading in the pregnancy manual, What to Expect When You're Expecting I have been continually amazed at the work of creation God is doing inside the darkness of my womb. In this, my 9th week, our baby is about 1 inch long, which is about the size of a medium green olive! Apparently our baby is starting to look less like a creature out of a Men in Black movie and more like a human! Muscles are starting to form too! How amazing too, is that 3 weeks ago this little human's heart started beating-the first organ to begin functioning! My mind is boggled at the amazing knitting together that God is orchestrating.

This is a picture of our baby at 8 weeks. It's a little hard to see but the black part is fluid and the greyish part in the left hand side is the baby! It is kind of crazy to think that there are only 7 months left until we get to meet this little person outside of the womb! So in these 7 months Joshua and I are praying for this little one and for us that we would learn well how to raise this child to know and love God. We get to talk about our thoughts on disciplining this child. We get to talk about how we want to do family devotions with this child. We get to talk about my desires to be a stay at home mom. We get to figure out if Joshua should get a job, and toss around ideas of what job that should be! We get to discuss what we are going to do after he graduates next May. I get to think about and share with him the many options for childbirth, breastfeeding, cloth vs. disposable diapers. And other such questions about whether we want to find out before the baby is born if we are having a boy or a girl? What about names?! Fun and exciting things!

We are alive!

2008-06-15T17:10:00.000-07:00

Yes, we are alive and well! I think I have started to post a couple of times, but it wasn't on my computer and I was having trouble loading pictures and I just got frustrated with it and stopped before I wasted anymore time on it! OK, so some highlights!
A few weeks ago I traveled to St. Louis to spend time with the Greever side of my family. Joshua was at this time in Central Asia on a trip with the school. I spent about 5 days with family and got to see Jeremiah graduate from high school! Joshua's mom, Irma, has home schooled all her children! This graduation was a momentous occasion for them, since Jeremiah is the last of the 5 boys to be home schooled. Joshua's youngest brother has down syndrome and is not home schooled in the sense that he will not graduate from high school and go off to college. So this past year has been the last year of homeschooling--I think she has been homeschooling for 22 years!! I know her boys are all very grateful for the work she has done in educating them! And this is not to forget their dad too, who obviously was very important in the homeschooling endeavour!

Joshua got back to the States on June 2nd. He was just in time to be back for our third anniversary of marriage! This picture was taken the Friday before our wedding. The crown I am wearing is from my bridesmaids, which I was made to wear the for part of the time we were hanging out that Friday before the wedding! Joshua and I were talking about how glad we are that we are on this side of the wedding and have been married for 3 years! Three years is not long, but we are so very grateful to the Lord for His blessing us this far!

Pretty much all we have been doing since he got back is hanging out, me working, he took a class last week, and we will now prepare for the Greever family vacation which will take place in about 2 weeks! We will be camping with most of the Greever family for about 3 weeks! We will be seeing parts of Canada, New England, NYC, and part of Pennsylvania! I am greatly looking forward to this trip and will have much posting to do after the trip!

Let's Run!

2008-04-27T14:31:00.000-07:00

What do you get when you add 12,000 people with 26 miles? You get the marathon that happened yesterday in Louisville. You could also divide the 26 miles by 2 and get the mini marathon which many of those 12,000 people ran. I did not do any running, but Joshua completed his first marathon!! We got up at about 5:30am and drove with 2 friends from church to the starting line. Twelve thousand people is a whole lot of people! I stood with them in the midst of the runners until the mass of people started to swell forward. I waved them off and went to pick my spot on the route where I could see Joshua when he reached the 6 mile mark.

About 35-40 minutes after the start of the race the "super" runners hit the 6 mile mark. They were running SO fast!! Joshua was not part of this pack of the runners! I cheered on many runners as I waited to see him coming! He was doing great at 6 miles and I bid him farewell and left to meet him at the 10 mile mark.

In between 6 and 10 miles the race path went through Churchill Downs...Joshua ran through the infield, which is the inside part of the racetrack. In the racetrack horses were practicing! While I was waiting for Joshua to get to the 10 mile mark I grabbed a hot chocolate since it was pretty chilly. I also go to enjoy some swing music being played by a live band on the side of the raceway! So fun!

My next stop was at mile 16. I had to park about a mile away so I got to enjoy a beautiful walk in one of the neighborhoods. There were so many dogwood trees blooming. Joshua said at mile 16 that he was doing pretty well. His legs were the only thing starting to get tired. Friends from church were going to see him at mile 18 and I was going to see him next at mile 22!!

He was pretty bushed at 22 miles and was wondering why in the world he was doing this! I told him he couldn't quit now since he only had 4 miles left. He wouldn't have quit anyway but I was doing my best to encourage him on! As Joshua proceeded to run across the river to Indiana, I made my way to the finish line about 4 blocks away. It was exciting to see all the people that had finished and to anticipate seeing Joshua cross the finish line. Joshua had used the training time and the running of the race to reflect on the spiritual race the Christian is on. We press on to attain the prize! At the finish line there were people lined up cheering the runners on. There were young people and old people. There were some who glided across the finish line and there were those who limped across. There was an announcer who would say over the loudspeaker the names of the runners as they crossed the finish line.
This made me think of how there are Christians of all ages who die and enter heaven and how amazing it is to think of the names of each one of those who has been kept by God til the end. Some have battled life's hardest battles and are limping to the gates while others have seen different trials but are not limping to the goal. The race has given both Joshua and I a greater sense of anticipation for the day that we leave this earthly tent and are finally united with Christ!! Well back to the marathon! Joshua finished in 5 hours and 20 minutes. And he was really sore. I made him take some Advil when we got home and he has recovered nicely-just over night he's felt much better!

Spring Is Here

2008-04-21T19:06:00.001-07:00

Spring in Kentucky is the most beautiful of all springs I have ever seen. I was sitting outside the other day and reading Psalm 104, which is one of my absolute favorite Psalms. Right as I was reading verse 12 a bunch of birds started singing! This verse says, "Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; They lift up their voices among the branches." I am amazed at all the things God has made! The beauty of the earth speaks so much of His creativity and His kindness. Here are some of the beautiful things that God has seen fit to surround us with.

Joshua and I were notcing how green everything seems here. Compared to Oklahoma, the grass seems like a thick bed of lushness! And I don't think I have seen so many different dogwood trees before. And then there are the trees that have tiny purple flowers on them...I don't know what they are but they are vibrant! Not only are the colors of spring fantastic, the smells are amazing! Joshua makes fun of me for saying something smells pretty. But it's so true! The grass and the flowers smell so pretty. And all of this is so astonishing to me becuase it's amazing that God would allow us to enjoy so many good things!

How We've Been

2008-03-30T12:11:00.000-07:00

All is well here. I started back to work a couple of weeks ago and that has gone well. I'd say that my foot is about 98% back to normal. I am going to have a nursing student work with me for about the next month! I will teach her all my wisdom and knowledge about nursing!

Joshua has done well on his midterms and he only has one more paper left to write this semester. He is enjoying being challenged by Hebrew poetry(he's taking a class on Proverbs).

I am figuring out how to use coupons to get more bang for our buck. A lady a church shared with whoever was interested, about how she uses coupons to save mucho buckos. I haven't quite figured it out yet. But hopefully I will soon, because Joshua is eating a lot more because he is training for the marathon. I am excited to save the mucho buckos but I think it's going to take a bit of work to figure out how to not waste time and money!

I am super excited about this coming Tuesday...Micheal Card is going to be speaking in chapel and he is going to be speaking at two other lectures during the afternoon. He is going to talk about using the lament passages in the Bible as a way to worship God and he is also going to talk about worshiping the God who takes everything away. I'm super excited to hear what he has to say.

I think that's about it for now. I'll take an update picture of my foot sometime soon!

Snow! and A Wedding

2008-03-10T07:52:00.000-07:00

We got lots of fun snow this past Friday. Saturday we dug ourselves out and went to a wedding in Indianapolis. We saw Joshua's old house and the site where their church was. It was a fun roadtrip in the snow and I'm so glad we got to see Joshua's family(minus Jonathan :-( ). Enjoy the snowy pictures!

Spiffy Granola

2008-03-03T13:15:00.000-08:00

I am a big fan of granola. In fact my all time fav granola is Strawberries'n'Cream. But it is super expensive and a treat if I get to eat it! So I decided to try my hand at making granola(because you get more bang for your buck). I found a recipe on AllRecipes but I changed it around a little bit and here's the mucho good homemade granola.

Ingredients:
6 Cups whole, rolled oats
1 cup chopped alomnds(or nut you prefer)
1 cup chopped dried cherries(or fruit you prefer)
1 cup unpacked brown sugar
2-3 TBSP honey
3 TBSP butter
Dash of cinnamon(optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On the stovetop, melt the butter in a pan large enough to hold all of the oats. Add the sugar and honey once the butter is melted. Cook, stirring until the mixture is bubbly. Add all of the oats and stir until all coated. Spread the oats on a cookie sheet(might take two cookie sheets). Sprinkle cinnamon on oats. Turn off the oven and put the cookie sheets on oven racks. Close oven door. Check on mixture about 30 minutes later and turn if needed to get the granola all crunchy. Once oven has completely cooled pour oats, nuts, and dried fruit into a large ziplock bag. Shake it up to mix all the contents. Eat and enjoy!

Interview with Gretchen Wright

2008-03-03T06:03:00.000-08:00

Go here to read an interview I got to do with Gretchen Wright. She's married to one of the facutly here at Southern and she goes to our church! I had a wonderful time doing this interview for the Pendergraph Women's Ministry here on campus!

Come Run a Marathon with Me

2008-02-29T06:19:00.000-08:00

My adventurous husband is going to run a marathon! The Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon in on April 26th. That's 56 days from now! He's been training for a while now but isn't ready yet to run all that long way! As I have just had foot surgery I will not be running with him but I will be there to cheer him on! I'm going to find some friends who will not be running and hang out with them for the 6 hours that it might take Joshua to run...That'd be kind of interesting to do a photo montage of all the things that you can do while your husband is running a marathon!

John Angell James and Betty Freidan

2008-02-27T06:58:00.000-08:00

This quote is from the book Female Piety by John Angell James. It is an excellent collection of his sermons that preached for the edification of all in his congregation, but most specifically women!

"It is not to the honor of religion nor to the credit of a wife and mother for a husband to come home at the dinner hour, expecting to see everything ready and in order, and to find all in confusion, nothing properly arranged, and have his time wasted by waiting for his wife, who has not finished her benevolent rambles or her morning's attendance at some females' meeting. Nor is it much for his happiness on coming home in the evening, suffering from the fatigue and vexation of the world's rough business, and when wanting the soothing influence of a wife's sweet voice, to have to sit hours in solitude and sadness becasue she is away at some public service. This is not the way to promote connubial felicity, or to interest his mind on behalf of the objects of his wife's zeal. It will never do to serve the Lord with time taken from domestic order, comfort, and family duty. A neglected husband and family are a sad comment upon some women's religious activity; and it is a comment not infrequently expressed by those who see it in the appearance of the children and the house."

And now comes the outcry from every feminist in the land saying that the qoute just promotes every kind of evil they have fought against. "The problem lay buried, unspoken, for many years in the minds of American women. IT was a strange stirring, a sense of dissatisfaction, a yearning that women suffered in the middle of the twentieth century in the United States. Eash suburban wife struggled with it alone. As she made the beds, shopped for groceries, matched slipcover material, ate peanut butter sandwiches with her children, chauffeured Cub Scouts and Brownies, lay beside her husbnad at night--she was afraid to ask even of herself the silent question--"Is this all?"(The Feminie Mystique, Chapter 1)

Betty Freidan rocked the United States with her book. After reading the almost 400 pages to find out what this "Feminie Mystique" is you learn that the Feminie Mystique is the bane of all American women's existance and that it comes from being locked in your home taking care of a husband, children, home. At almost the end of the book she gives you the key to spring from the proverbial trap you have been living in as a woman. "The key to the trap is, of course, education. The feminie mystique has made higher education for women seem suspect, unnecessary and even dangerous. But I think that education, and only education, has saved, and can continue to save, American women from the greater dangers of the feminie mystique."(The Feminine Mystique, Chapter 14)

I could go on. But I think I'll stop for now and just give a few comments.

Betty Friedan makes a good point. If all women are living for is matching the slip covers and taking their children to Cub Scouts, that is a pretty depressing and hopeless existance. But so is living for education and being part of mainstream society. What makes life worth living?

Life is worth living because God created it. Being in Christ is what makes life worth living. Is being a stay at home mom glamerous? No, probably not all the time. Is being a corporate executive glamerous? No, probably not all the time. But finding your satisfaction in either of those things, apart from Christ, is not good. Being a Christian means your life is not your own anymore, whether you are married, have no kids or tons of kids, or single. Living in such a way to show the gospel through what you do(whether it is as a housewife or a corporate executive) is what matters. If you are a housewife, be a housewife for the glory of God. If you are a corporate executive, be a corporate executive for the glory of God.

It is of no credit for a woman to worhip the god of domesticity. It is also of no credit for a woman to worship the god of education or society. It's sin.

Worship the One true God and do what you do for the glory of God and do it according to his plan.

My Foot and Taxes

2008-02-22T15:46:00.000-08:00

My foot and taxes have absolutely nothing to do with each other except for the fact that I was going to post some pictures of what we looked like when we just finished working on taxes for about the past 4 hours and I saw that I had taken some more pictures of my foot and so I decided to put them on too!

So this is what it looks like to have just spent about 4 hours doing taxes. Joshua could not stop laughing though because he was in a giddy, silly mood!

And so here are some pics of my foot. I have this snazzy platform boot thingy that I have to wear whenever I walk on my foot. And then the other one is what it looks like with the new, modified bandgage the Doc put on on Monday.

Surgery

2008-02-19T06:28:00.000-08:00

*WARNING-If you don't like feet...you might want to skip this post!

It's almost been a week since I had foot surgery. I went to the Doc yesterday to get my bandage taken off and get a different very stylish shoe to be able to walk around in--without crutches! I haven't taken pictures of that yet...to come later!

So my very wonderful mom came to help out!! This picture was taken the day before surgery. She was such a wonderful blessing to us! She cooked up a storm too so we would have food tucked away in the freezer after she left.

Here's a picture we took the night before surgery of my feet. I had surgery only on the right foot because it was the worst and it was the one that hurt me the most. Lord willing I will not have to have surgery on the other foot.

On Wed. morning we got to the hospital despite all the the snow and freezing rain we had been getting here! I got all changed into the ever fashionable hospital gown, put on my little hospital socks and donned my amazing surgical hair cover! The nurses were all very kind.

It didn't hurt too much to get the IV started and they only asked me about 10 times for my health history! I met the resident that was going to be assisting with the surgery. His name was Paul...that's about all I know about him! It's kind of strange to me how trusting we are students! Dr. Ford was my surgeon and he wisked in for a few minutes. My mom and Joshua got to come into the pre surgery area and we snapped some photos. The nurse then said she was going to give me some medicine that would make me fell drunk. I don't know what it's like to be drunk, but if it is ANYTHING like what those drugs make you feel like you can rest assured that you will never see me drunk. After surgery that was one of the first thoughts that I had...not a good feeling! After they gave me the medicine they wheeled me out of the pre surgery area and the last thing I remember is moving over onto the OR table.

The next thing I remember is being very groggy and someone asking me if I wanted crackers and sprite. "No I would like Coke if you have it". Then in a very hazy sort of blackness I remember eating those crackers and drinking my Coke!

After waiting a bit more the nurse took out my IV, which had started to burn anyway.
I got dressed and got in the wheelchair and Joshua went to get the car. As my mom and I were waiting I got a little sick to my stomach so they told me to take off my coat. That helped. The nurse came up to me and asked me if I knew what her name was. I told her it was Aggie. She said yup, and asked me if I remembered asking her 4 times what her name was! I remember asking once! She said that the first time I asked I had said "oh I'll remember that, it's just like Texas(I guess I was thinking of Texas A&M!)

The rest of the day was pretty good. Dr. Ford had given me some extra numbing so I didn't start to feel my poor foot until about 7pm. David and Susanna from church were so kind and brought us a meal of yummy chili, corn bread and cookies. That was the last meal that I truly enjoyed for a day because I started taking Percocet that night and all the next day it made me sick to my stomach. I think I threw up 3 times(that is why there are NO pictures from Thrusday!) Joshua was in class almost all day so I am really really thankful that my mom was here to take care of me! Thursday night my mom and I decide that Percocet was not worth it anymore so I started taking Ibuprofen. Much , much better! On Friday night we went to the Valentine's Extravaganza at church had had a blast. Saturday not much went on. Sunday I went to the church service and to small group that night. And yesterday I went to the Doc like I had said eariler. We were going to go to a concert at our church but as we were driving away Joshua decided that he had better not go cause he was not feeling very well. He got the flu and spent a very yucky night last night with the effects of it. He's sleeping now and hopefully will be able to start drinking a little bit soon. During my recouperating I will be reading alot and probably watching some TV, writing, keeping up with e-mails and blogs and I don't know what else. I still have to keep ice on my foot pretty often so there's not a whole lot of walking around for me yet. Here are some pictures that we took yesterday before we took my mom to the airport.

Peace in the Storm

2008-02-11T12:00:00.000-08:00

Last Tuesday night we were in the midst of a storm. Part of the weather system that wrecked so much havoc with the tornados, came through Louisville. I had gone to bed about an hour and a half before the tornado sirens went off. I had to get up on Wed. morning to go to work and my sleep was very precious to me at that point. When the sirens started their scream I nudged Joshua and woke him up. He turned over and we were going to go back to bed, thinking, it's Louisville, they overreact. We've lived in Oklahoma... Nothing happened to us, but after the fact, we thought about how we were being very self-confident and we should have gone downstairs to some of our neighbors to spend the night. But anyway....Joshua checked the weather and said he would stay up for a while and told me to go back to bed, since I had to work in the morning.

I tried and tried to sleep but I just kept thinking. I started thinking about how the sirens that were screeching were probably something like the sirens that went off during WWII when there were bomb raids. I thought how terrifying that must have been. And then I got to thinking about how scary the weather really can be. There is SO much power in storms. We have all seen pictures showing the damage caused by it. So I then started thinking about how powerful God is. He is the one that controls every storm and Jesus Christ calmed the storm with WORDS!!!! Mark 4:35-41 relates this story to us. The disciples ask, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?" How many of us take the time to learn these lessons that God is teaching us in a storm? How amazing it would be to be able to teach your children to fear the Lord and trust in Him while you are huddled in a closet or in the bathroom under a mattress! It was so wonderful to think about the bigness of God in the midst of the storm last week. Humans can predict the weather, but what human can CONTROL the weather!? Can you worship God in the midst of a storm? Yes! Worship Him for his majesty. Worship Him for being such a huge God and thank Him for showing you how small you are. Worship Him for His providential use of His creation. For those who lose family and friends in such storms, worship Him for his kindness in not destroying all of humankind. Worship Him for keeping His word to never do anything like the Flood again. Worship Him for His mercy in keeping you alive and giving you more time to turn to Him.

How often do we say that we trust God when we are in the middle of a literal storm like that of last week? It seems natural in the initial moments of the siren warning us that a storm is approaching to seek safety. But is my trust and hope placed more in the buildings and structures that man has made? How often can we say that we trust that God will providentially preserve our life or he will providentially call His child home? He is good in keeping me safe in a storm like that of last week and He is good if He had chosen to end my life here on earth. When we trust in God's goodness and providence we can say that we have NO FEAR!! That is joy!

All the pictures are from Yahoo! pictures

Yummy Chicken Pot Pie

2008-02-08T07:55:00.000-08:00

Mmmm. The other day I tried out a recipe that I got from my friend Jessica. This recipe can be made with chicken or turkey and it's splendid both ways. At the end of the recipe I'll put some comments about some changes that I made to it (I hardly ever make a recipe just the way it says to!)

Ingredients:
Boneless, skinless chicken breast (enough for 4-6 cups cooked, cubed)
5 cups chicken stock
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1 1/2 sticks butter
2 yellow onions, chopped
3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 cups diced carrots, blanched for 2 minutes
1 (10 oz.) package frozen peas
Bisquick Mix (use recipe on back of box for pastry top-must have milk and eggs)

Directions:
Either cook chicken on baking sheet or in a skillet on stove. Use olive oil, salt and pepper to season. Set aside until cool enough to handle, and then cut chicken into large dice. You will have 4-6 cups of cubed chicken.

In a small saucepan, heat the chicken stock and dissolve the bouillon cubes in the stock. In a large pan, melt butter and sauté the onions over med-low heat for 10-15 minutes, until onions are translucent. Add the flour and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the hot chicken stock. Simmer on low heat for 1 more minute, stirring, until thick. Add 2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoons pepper, and heavy cream. Add the cubed chicken, carrots, and peas. Mix well.

Follow the recipe on the back of the Bisquick box to make the pastry top. Pour the filling for the pot pie into individual oven-safe bowls, or into one large oven safe dish. Then pour Bisquick mixture over the tops until filling is covered. Bake at 400 degrees until tops are golden brown.

Eat it and enjoy!!!

Now for my recommendations:
Because boneless chicken is more expensive, we always buy bone-in chicken. If you don't mind a tad more work...Instead of baking the chicken, I boiled it in water, then let it cool, and it practically falls off the bone and then I just cut it up into small pieces. What I wish I would have thought of before I bought chicken stock was that if you boil the chicken in about 6 cups of water, you will be basically making your own chicken stock and that way you don't have to buy chicken stock!

Instead of using butter I used margarine, and it works fine. You could do either. When I added the flour, it got thick really fast, so I didn't cook it for the full 2 minutes before adding the hot chicken stock. And when I added the chicken stock, it was pretty lumpy at first. But just be persistent in stirring and the lumps will go away. I did have to "mush" the lumps up against the side of the pan and that got rid of them more quickly as I was stirring.

My last issue was when I was looking for the recipe on the back of the Bisquick box...I had looked on the back of the box at the store and didn't see a recipe for pastry topping. And to save money I bought the store brand...so with a quick call to Jessica I got the recipe. She recommended tripling this recipe for the topping:

1 cup Bisquick
1/2 cup milk
1 egg

Well I got a little carried away and multiplied it by 5!!! What I didn't realize about Bisquick was that it puffs up ALOT! So if you make this just stick with tripling or maybe quadrupling it! Anyway it takes about 30 minutes for it to bake....that's in a large baking dish...I don't have any personal size baking dishes. It makes a ton so invite some people over and enjoy the best chicken pot pie that you have ever tasted and be proud that you made it! (If you have ever had any of those 50 cent chicken pot pies, your mouth will thank you for making this pot pie! Although Joshua would say there is nothing wrong with those frozen pot pies, but his taste buds are not very discriminating!)

The Real Deal

2008-02-04T10:08:00.000-08:00

Joshua and I had to laugh the other when we saw these two vehicles parked close to each other. One is a wannabe truck and the other the hoss daddy of trucks!

Keep Louisville Weird

2008-02-03T12:39:00.000-08:00

So there is this mantra to "Keep Louisville Weird". OK. As I was driving yesterday I was confronted once more with something that keeps Louisville weird. Why? I kept asking myself. Why do they do this? Driving on a four lane road in Louisville is sometimes quite startling, because as you are listening to your tunes, minding your own business, driving in the right hand lane, you slow down cause there is some person in front of you stopped. You come to a stop behind this car...sit there...and then suddenly realize that there is nobody in the car! It's just a random car parked in the right hand lane that you are driving in. Why do they do this? It makes sense that they do this on some roads...because there are clearly marked areas for cars to park...and it's not a 4 lane road. I am ok with that. But why do they park in the right hand lane? Keep it weird Louisville, keep it weird.

The State of the Greevers Address

2008-01-28T17:30:00.000-08:00

Today marked the beginning of Joshua's 4th semester as a seminary student. He said the first day of classes are not the best because the time is taken up mostly with talking about the syllabus, the papers that will be due, the reading that will have to be done, etc. So we have decided that the 2nd day of each of the classes must be the best day of the beginning of the new year. He is currently in his favorite place...the library....doing his favorite thing....reading!

Since I don't want to be left out of all the fun of reading for classes. I have decided that I need to have a little home study refresher on pharmacology. This should be interesting since I think it will make a TON more sense since I have worked as a nurse for a year and a half.

The Women's Ministry on campus is having an event tomorrow night where we will learn about how to save/budget money. We will also showcase home businesses that the women have...I'll be sure to scope out any unique ones and post any good ideas here. With being in seminary and many on the women having young families, it's such a needed topic to learn about. I know the challenges of figuring out a budget and sticking to it! It's a fun challenge though...it makes you think about what you really need and what are the things that you can just live without, or wait to buy.

Well I'd leave you with a great picture if I had one...maybe next time!

Car Talk and Saturdays

2008-01-26T16:18:00.000-08:00

Car Talk on NPR is quite the informative and funny
radio show. Who would know that Joshu and I would
have so many memories assocaited with the program!

Every time I listen to Car Talk there are some fond
memories that pop up in my mind. It was fun to talk
about the memories that we have that are realted to
car talk! I have fond memories of going with my dad
on Saturday mornings to Home Depot or just other
places running errands and while we were out we would
listen to Car Talk! My brother would sometimes be
along and we would make a quick stop at the Hostess
store(which was a treat!) and get day old pastries!
Listening to Car Talk also brings memories of when my
brother and I had a paper route, and on Saturdays the
papers were about twice as heavy, so my dad would
drive us in our van to deliver the papers. We would
try to deliver the papers quickly and get back to the
car in time to hear the puzzler!

I shared these memories with Joshua and asked if he
had any memories that come up with listening to Car
Talk! He said that he did! He always thinks of how
he would listen to it with his dad when they were on
thier way to basketball games on saturdays while
Joshua was in highschool.

It makes me laugh that a radio show like Car Talk
would have fond memories connected with it, but I
think that I will always look back on the time that I
got to spend with my dad and brother as very special.
Car Talk will remind me of those times!

Cinnamon Rolls

2008-01-17T12:49:00.000-08:00

I was making bread today and it made me think of the last time I used my bread machine. For Christmas we had cinnamon rolls for breakfast and I used a recipe that my friend Jenna gave me. It is so yummy and if you like making cinnamon rolls or want to give it a shot, these are great. They are the Clone of a Cinnabon and they are some of the best cinnaomn rolls I've made in a long time! And they are much cheaper than buying the real thing!

New Year

2008-01-14T16:51:00.000-08:00

Well obviously this part of the Greever clan is not
all that great in blogging, but we will try to update
here more often. The Christmas season was full of
blessing of seeing both sides of the family! We are
thankful for the time we get to spend with our family.

Joshua is preparing for another semester of study and
he is looking forward to it! I have noticed recently
that all Joshua seems to be doing is reading! I was
teasing him about how at any point during the day I
could ask what he is doing and he would be reading! I
am thankful though that he is enoying his reading for
school and learning more about the Lord.

I am persevering in working as a nurse on the oncolgy
floor and I'm preparing to have surgery on my foot
this coming Feb. I am looking forward to my mom
coming to help out while I get back on my feet!

We enjoyed the beauty of some snow fall this morning.
It stopped before it amounted to anything, but it was
pretty to watch the flakes swirl to the ground! It
was a fun day to curl up with a good book too!
(Although all Joshua is getting to read is for school!
I get to pick fun books to read now that I am not in
school!) I just finished reading two books by Thomas
Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge and Far from the
Madding Crowd. Both tragic but beautiful. I enjoyed
them. I think I will take a break from fiction though
and pick something more serious, I haven't quite
decided yet.

One of our neighbors is pregnant with twins! and I
have been talking resently with her about cloth
diapering. It seems that there are quite a few
seminary folks who have decided to use cloth
diapering. It makes sense beause it saves so much
money and does not lead to even more waste in
landfills! I have been investigating on how difficult
it would be to make some cloth diapers...There is a
group of ladies that meet on Monday night to sew so I
think I'll aks some of them if they have any
experience in this area. I went to this group last
week to get some help fixing a dress that I had made
and we got to talking about quilts. I have about 3
quilt tops that my Grandma, who passed away before I
was born, had made. My grandparents just gave them to
me this year and I had not really thought about them
until I mentioned it to the ladies at the sewing
group. They said they would love to help me finsh
them. So now all I have to do is save some money and
go pick out cloth for the bottom part of the quilts!

Well until next time!

2006-09-09T09:21:00.000-07:00

We shall see if this works and lasts!