36 weeks... wow!

Well, it's really late for me but we enjoyed an evening with friends who've come to Louisville from our Kansas City world... what a great and happy mix! So I'm awake now feeling lots of little hiccups from our baby Moriah who's doing well according to my doctor, as I had a 36 week check-up today. While her check-up doesn't predict any sort of time line it was reassuring to know that my body is starting the progress that it will need to continue in order to deliver a healthy baby in the next few weeks, naturally we hope :) So here's a picture of me tonight... feeling pretty big, but you can be the judge of that I suppose!

a special person

When finishing up our 4th of July theme for the week at pre-school today we looked over some books we've read this week. I have a few patriotic children's books of various sorts, but most had too many words for three year old's to sit through so we looked at the pictures and discussed them instead. The White House was pictured in one book and trying to recall to their minds our discussion earlier this week I said, "Who is the special person who lives in this house? Remember, it's called the White House..." - lots of fairly uncertain stares met my gaze as I attempted to prompt and refresh their little memories. Then one little sweet girl's eyes lit up and she said "Jesus!" It was very sweet to hear that for her, Jesus is the first one who comes to mind when "a special person" is mentioned. I pray He will continue working in her heart and that her child-like faith will lead to salvation in His perfect timing.

being a wife

As these thoughts rolled through my mind during this weekend, I decided I'd like to add them to my blog. Then I realized that for some, my pleasure in being a wife would be laughable or even absurd. If you feel that way there's no need to read on, it may really irritate you. I pray that's not the case and that most of you reading (who are my good friends in real life, I realize) will rejoice in the Lord's plan of marriage and His blessings in it according to His timing and desires for us.



So that's the preface I suppose...
Yesterday was a really "normal" Saturday, and today has been the same sort of normal Sunday. Throughout this weekend however, I've just been struck with delight as I've lived as Matt's wife. I really don't know why, but I'm especially thankful that the Lord is good to give us feelings which at times DO match the reality we read of in Scripture. Marriage is blessed according to the Lord's perfect plans and will for His people in their individual lives (i.e., not everyone should marry, I know). The world would tell us otherwise, and at times our feelings would cause us to believe these lies instead of the Lord's Truth.



So my "normal" day included dropping Matt off at work then making a trip to the Farmer's Market to buy a lovely new assortment of fresh flowers that I could use as centerpiece on our kitchen table. I ventured into the world of Whole Foods (I'd never been inside before) to buy some dill and whey to use in pickle making. I came home a cooked a lot... real dill pickles (with CSA pickling cucumbers), 3 batches of zucchini bread (with giant zucchinis given to us by a church member), and dessert (a Martha twist on Rice Krispie treats) to share with our friends who were visiting later in the evening. Then, I cleaned our house which had been neglected by a lack of motivation recently for thorough cleaning. I finished it all in time to pick Matt up from work (we're a one car family now), and then go on a lunch date with him thanks to our Groupon find! We came home and enjoyed watching the World Cup (but the US lost if you hadn't heard). We delivered a meal to our friends who are enjoying their newest family member, a tiny little girl! When we came home we ate a very simple dinner (cereal, zucchini bread, fruit salad, and leftover egg souffle). Then time with more friends who came for dessert and great conversations. Today has been more of "normal" life... cooking, doing dishes, doing laundry, etc. Nothing particularly spectacular about this weekend.



In spite of such mundane tasks as some might say (or as I might say even at times), the Lord has called me to these things. He gave me great joy in them this weekend. I am glad that Matt loves zucchini bread and that I could make a ton and freeze some so that he'll be delighted to enjoy it for days to come! I love that I could have a clean house for him when he came home from working so hard to provide for us and our growing family. I'm very thankful that we enjoy similar things (most of the time) and had a great time watching soccer and visiting with friends. He really is my best friend, and spending these sweet days together leaves me with gratefulness in my heart.

One more thing... he shared this with me after I picked him up from work:
A co-worker (who is a middle aged lady) was explaining why everyone is her family thinks that marriage is a mistake for everyone, and is horrible over-all.
Matt replied that he loves marriage, and is really glad to have a wife.
She told him that he's the only person she knows who feels that way and can be sincerely believed. She explained that Matt is genuinely happier than most people she knows, and that his pleasure in marriage is honest.

This is the Lord's work no doubt, and I pray He will always be glorified in our marriage... the world has no answer for His ways as they are "higher" than ours. Trust Him, He is so good.

beet chocolate cake

I am an extremely messy cook... I'd really like to work on that. My husband, or my mom, could share a long list of kitchen mess horror stories they've witnessed or experienced during my cooking. It's really not good. As I cooked my very experimental beet chocolate cake this evening my kitchen was splattered in purple dye from counter tops and stove top to the floor! I'm pretty sure early pioneers could've and should've (maybe they really did) used beets to naturally dye their fabrics, I'm sure it would work! In the process I also drop so much, Grace I promise this is TRUE! I dropped my food processor bowl today and it cracked. Now I'm really hoping that Cuisinart makes it possible for me to order a replacement bowl only. We'll see. So not only are messes made under normal conditions when you drop things like spatulas with batter they of course splatter. Then I dropped my bundt pan in the process of flouring it... what does that mean, a cloud of flour! So if you came into my house mid-cooking project you would've found, purple beet juice everywhere (including all over me), flour sprinkled all over my black yoga pants, and counter tops covered in a combo of ingredients that may have been spilled during the process. I hope this doesn't discourage you from eating at our home again... things are always clean to start with and end with. The middle just gets messy! Just a confession I thought I'd share. Now I need to check this beet chocolate cake and see how it's doing. It had great potential I think. The following quality ingredients even Martha might endorse... 1) organic milk 2) organic eggs 3) farm fresh beets 4) Ghirardelli chocolate 5) enriched flour - I'm hopeful!

3 year olds... BUSY!

So I've started my new job as a "teacher" of 3 year old children at a local daycare. Wow! Three year old little ones are very busy, thus I am not sitting too often and I'm getting plenty of time with sitting on the floor and squatting (various Bradley exercises that are unintentionally preparing me for labor in a few months)! If you have a three old please share any of their favorites with me, I feel like I'm still getting to know this age and will be for awhile I'm sure.
So far I've gathered this...
~free play is a lot of fun, for about 1 hour... then they're not quite sure what to do
~music really captivates them, Dr. Jean songs are perfect for this :) I'll be investing in more CD's I can burn from my collection as they are also quickly scratched
~these little ones already know A LOT (in comparison with my more recent experiences in much different areas)... many of them know most letters, all sing the alphabet song, they count very well to about 13 or so, etc.
~art activities are fun and their creativity often is displayed in less structure than I'd expect :) (EX: we make a fish with our foot print, and add cut out grass, rocks, and shells... some of us end up totally covering the fish we started with!)
~sand is more fun to fling or dump than it is to play with at the sand table in the place it should stay
~napping is good once they get to sleep!
~potty training is tricky and is not quite so "all or nothing" as I'd imagined... changing poopy Pull-Ups is also an interesting acrobatic feat for both the child and myself
~listening to new books is fun once we get to the carpet
~meal time is usually good until I insist on putting everything on their plates, even those things they don't really like - spills are also all to frequent :)
~being younger than the rest (only 2), speaking little English, and having a spunky spirit makes one little girl much more challenging than her friends!
~shoes and socks seem to be optional attire for many, they're always the first things to go in any difficult moments
~lining up is almost impossible, or so it seems thus far!
~sharing and taking turns are very new concepts and it's more common to scream when you don't get exactly what you wanted or expected... thus a new phrase in my lingo is "please use your words" or "let's talk to your friend about how you feel"
~being held seems to solve most problems these days, which is a very sweet difference and might be even better in about 2 months when this baby belly begins to shrink :)

I'd really love to hear from you all... let me know what insights you've gleaned from this fun age!

CSA adventures

I think my blog is a good place to share some information about the CSA we joined this summer. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture and allows members to buy shares of a farm's produce. So we're paying to pick up a box of farm fresh produce every week! The produce varies based upon each farm, the weather, etc. We chose Misty Meadows Farm to try because for the most reasonable price they offered a variety of produce that we were mostly familiar with, along with others that we realized would be new and were willing to try. Matt picked up our first box of delicious food tonight... this is what it looked like (minus the kale which I was cooking with at the time):


So this is what we received this week in our half share (a good size for two)...
kale (not pictured, cooked and ate already!)
swiss chard
head lettuce
peas
strawberries
red onions

I had fun via text conversation identifying the lettuces with Darcie, while also using my on-line resources, Joy of Cooking from Hannah, and Martha's Cooking School book.

If you're interested in learning more about joining a CSA this is a great resource. And the Local Harvest web-site was our starting point for us as we searched for a good fit.

I bought a lettuce knife at Victoria's recommendation to use in cutting my lettuce so that it doesn't brown. I also invested in a salad spinner to store it, and some green bags for my other fresh produce. Those are all additional "investments" but will get a lifetime of use I think!

So this was part of our first dinner to include some of our bounty...


Gretchen sent this recommendation to me for Greens and Beans via Facebook, and I can't tell you how seriously AMAZING it was! I've never eaten "greens" before and didn't know if I'd find them too appetizing... I was wrong... these were so good. *a side note: some of the schools I've worked in serve greens in the cafeteria for student lunches, did you know of diversity in cafeteria foods? pretty fun I think!* I may even buy more kale at the Farmer's Market just to have it again soon :) If I do buy more Darcie also recommended Lemon Kale Chips which sound interesting. I found a Kale-Potato Gratin recipe in the Joy of Cooking which also sounded good. Who knew that there could be so many new foods to try with thought given to one new-to-us ingredient!?

So our dinner tonight which came to me on a whim included: baked potatoes (with cottage cheese for me), asparagus, greens and beans, and cheddar garlic biscuits (not really healthy but a good addition). A really filling and tasty vegetarian meal that Matt also enjoyed a lot! Now I think I'll go enjoy some of our strawberries over cereal for my night time snack.

*one more thing... I found out about a free canning/preserving class being offered in connection with our local Farmer's Market - I'm so excited to go on June 12, we'll see whether or not I can get off to a slow start with canning this summer or if it will have to wait :)

five years with Matt

Well in case you're confused, no Matt and I haven't been married for five year... about two and a half. So, why five years? Matt reminded me recently that we met each other for the first time five years ago this summer when we started working together at a church in a Kansas City suburb as Middle School interns. Thinking about that now all seems so funny, and if you know us each now we're about the farthest cry from middle school intern personalities, but the Lord had us there according to His good plans (maybe just so we could meet and then get married?!). :) So I thought I'd join Grace and compile a list of lots of fun memories over five years, which will also include reasons I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Matt! (it's quite a hodge-podge of reasons)



~he wrote letters to me even before we were ever dating, the girls in the dorm took it as a serious "sign"... I reassured them that he was just a friend!
~he told me of his desires to be celibate once, the same night I was more sure than ever that I really liked him and wished someday I could maybe just marry someone "like him" - since he had made such a declaration
~the first time we really spent together was at Atlanta Bread and then Borders... we still love Border's dates together... I get magazines, Matt gets magazines too or photography, architecture, or traveling books to browse
~he tolerated lots of interruptions during our evening phone calls while we were at different colleges, there were girls who just knocked during that hour because they knew who I would be talking to! dorm life was crazy sometimes
~he was very slow during our dating days and didn't ever overwhelm me, I think he knew, and I think the Lord showed him, that's what I needed most
~he's always been willing to share his ideas and thoughts with me, I don't always have a lot to contribute but I'm so glad to really KNOW him and listen to the way his mind works
~he really enjoys watching soccer, we spent a lot of time during the last World Cup summer following the games
~he's intense in the greatest way that I really need... he won't let you get by with an "easy answer" and in that way is such a solid man - that was my one word description for him five summers ago when we were eating our intern lunches one day - the more I've grown to know him the more I'd agree with that initial impression
~he's willing to learn and grow, and never shies away from challenging himself... this means that I love hearing all about his newest thoughts and latest favorites (authors, magazines, ideas, implications, etc.) - it also means I usually fall asleep with a lamp on as Matt reads himself to sleep long after I doze off :)
~he's willing to learn about me and grow together with me... I'm a quirky person marriage has taught me, and Matt has been very patient with every new discovery (EX: I drop most everything and have numerous spills throughout the day which he tolerates very well and with great grace!)
~he's passionate and creative, we compliment each other well I think... my mind is a pragmatic one, his thinks about the bigger picture in many ways (art, the nature of beauty, poetry, etc.)
~he likes to learn the names of flowers, trees, and birds and I love to share
~he's stopped to pick wildflowers for me by the side of the road on more than one occasion, like today on our way home from church in fact!
~he's encourages my femininity and enjoys it when I cook, plant flowers, make bouquets, wear jewelry, and paint my toenails... he often says he's a "fish in the desert" when I ask his opinion on these things
~he gladly serves me in many little ways that are a HUGE blessing, he's become our laundry man as he hauls our full laundry baskets up to the laundry room on campus and back again... he fills the ice cube trays every morning (because I spill a lot when I try to)... he often does our dishes after dinner
~he is a leader for our family who I will always gladly follow! I'm reminding him often that soon he'll have a little cheerleader who is glad to follow as well when baby Moriah is born, I know she'll love her dad and he'll continue to lead us all very well