Good Article

Just a quick post to share an article with you I read this morning. SimpleMom has quite a few good articles. They tend to lean toward the sorta-crunchy mom type, which is where I like to be and I know a few of you do too. ;) Enjoy this sleep article and search around for other good stuff (the other day there was a good post about eliminating shampoo and their harmful chemicals from your life).

Football Food

Football season has arrived and with it comes football food! Last week, I whipped up one of Mark's favorites, nachos. This is super easy and husband-approved. :)

Ingredients:
1lb ground beef
a bag of your favorite tortilla chips
1 can cheddar cheese soup
a jar of your favorite salsa
diced tomatoes
diced onion
jalapeno slices
sliced black olives
sour cream
any other toppings that sound good to you

Directions:
brown the ground beef
in saucepan heat the cheese soup and add about 1/4 cup of salsa
mix in some of the soup/salsa concoction with the browning meat
place tortilla chips on plates and top with meat, cheese, and all the other toppings
DIG IN!

It's a crazy time for a new job!

I know, I'm crazy. 

First, who quits a perfectly decent job in this economy? Especially after the company lays off almost half of the staff two weeks before I give notice! 

Second, who finds a perfectly awesome job with a stable and growing company in this economy?

Third, what soon-to-be 1st time mom takes a new job just months before bringing a new baby home? 

Apparently, I do! 

The past 3 weeks have been jam packed with training and I have several more weeks of the same. It's a great move for me and it hasn't been often that I've been able to say I really like my job. And hey, we seem to be hiring a lot so if you know anyone needing a job pass their resume my way. ;) 

Every new hire has to use the company application to send out a bio email to the entire company. Here's a copy of mine: MY BIO EMAIL. 

Fresh Okra

The Pioneer Woman wasn't lying! My photo isn't very good, but this IS the best way to eat okra. Uncooked, washed, sliced in half, and salted. I never knew there was a way to eat it besides fried. This "recipe" takes a lot less preparation and clean up, not to mention it's much healthier. If you didn't grow any this year, put it on your seed list for next summer. I'm so glad the pesky bugs ignored our okra plants this summer. :)

Pink & Green

The nursery is well under way. I can't wait until we have a completed room to show you! I'll give you a preview of the walls. :)

Since my last day at Oxygen Ed. was last Wednesday, I had Thursday & Friday free. I decided to paint. Thursday I prepared the room by taping and edging with the pink paint. And then I ran out of time because I did other errands that day like, dropping off 10 bags of purged items from our closets to Goodwill and taking my rings & earrings to the jewelry store for appraisals and cleanings. On Friday, I rolled the pink paint and then edged & rolled the green too. (BTW I did two coats of all edging & rolling.) I was impressed with my job and Mark was too. He was so impressed that he decided on Sunday to add another chair rail to the 4th wall (that I had painted solid pink) and repaint the bottom green to match the rest of the walls.

Next up, moving the furniture back into the room. ;)

Nursery Ideas

I see you all are more interested in baby stuff than you are our garden these days. ;)

Well, Jenny and I are about to kick off the decorating project. She might be getting tired of my emails with links to ideas I've seen so I'll share them all with you. I started putting together an "Idea Book" for the nursery. I'll get to that but first you should see the bedding we've picked out.

It's called Penelope and is from Pottery Barn Kids. I just love the birds and the fun girly colors! We are very thankful to Mark's company because they are paying for all of the bedding and a rug for the room. (He has earned points over the past year and cashed some in for PB gift cards.)

And here is a link to the start of my idea book. 

Click HERE

I realize I can't use all of these ideas, so we'll have to pick the ones that go with our theme the best. I'm sure there will be more nursery ideas to come...

Veggie Patch

Our beans are good. They are very, very good. Avery confirmed it for me last night. After stopping by our Roche plot and picking our every-other-day-100-beans, we dropped by my brother's house to share the fruits of our labor. Avery was already in bed but yelled down, "Mommy who is it?" when she heard us come in. Jason said I could go up, so I did and Avery and I had a nice little chat. First she showed me what she had picked out to wear to school today. Then she asked me what I was doing there, so I said we were dropping off some of our green beans. She said, "Oh, well last time your beans were very, very good, Aunt Stephanie." Then she gave me a bear hug goodnight and I was on my merry way. :)

Also at our garden plot we have okra growing. I think the flower that forms before the okra is rather pretty. 

Beans, pre-picking.

One box of goodies. We've been harvesting a box like this about every other day. The beans are getting bigger every time we pick. I'm not sure how they grow so big in 2 days!  Next year we plan to plant even more green beans (the pole variety) so that we have enough to can for winter (Mom, I need your pressure cooker please.). This year we have just enjoyed sharing our bounty. 

Sugar and Spice

Sugar and spice

and everything nice

that's what little girls are made of

Sunshine and rainbows

and ribbons for hair bows

that's what little girls are made of

Tea parties, laces

and baby doll faces

that's what little girls are made of

Just for fun

We're not sure if/when we'll find out the gender, but I thought it would be fun to get your guesses. :)

Look to the right and make your guess. ----------------------------------------->

Then comment on this post with how you voted and why. :)

3rd time's a charm!

I'm not quite sure how to begin this post. Brace yourselves, you're about to jump up and down and squeal with joy! 

WE ARE GOING TO BE PARENTS!

Ok, have you stopped jumping and squealing? Here's part of our story... 

July 1, 2009 -- I was driving home from work and Mark called. "The agency just called. A birth mom has picked us!" I could not believe it. I had to pull over into the nearest parking lot. I was crying and celebrating all at the same time. The amazing part of that is I had been praying specifically that we would be matched in July since sometime in May. July 1st. Wow, God works in amazing ways! Over the next day or so we learned about the birth mom, when she was due, etc. We found out she wanted to meet us, but just wasn't sure when. 

July 6, 2009 -- I was sitting at my desk at work and Mark called. "The agency just called. Another birth mom has picked us!" What?!? Are you kidding me?!?! We struggled and prayed for a few days about what we should do. This 2nd birth mom is due before the first and she wants to meet us ASAP. We weren't sure what to do. We already felt a connection with the first birth mom, as strange as that seems. It turned out that we wouldn't have to make a decision. On July 10th we heard from the agency that the first birth mom was questioning her adoption plan and the agency felt that birth mom #2 would be a better match for us. We scheduled to meet her along with a social worker from our agency on July 21st. 

July 20, 2009 -- Mark and I were sitting in the basement at home waiting for the social worker to call us with details on the restaurant location for lunch. The phone rings, "Well, I have good news and bad news." Oh great. "The bad news is that birth mom #2 has decided that she wants to parent." Ugh! "The good news is that a 3rd birth mom selected you today!" Is this really happening? "She would like to meet you as soon as possible." Since we had already scheduled a vacation day we wondered if she would be willing to meet for lunch on the 21st. The social worker called us back in 10 minutes and birth mom #3 said yes! She also showed us her tender heart by saying to the social worker, "I know they must be broken-hearted right now about the other birth mom changing her mind. Tell them how sorry I am but please let them know that I won't change my mind." 

July 21, 2009 -- Today. Today we met our birth mom. She is sweet, outgoing, focused, motivated, and so much more. She told us about her childhood, her family, her future plans, and what she hopes for her child. She has her first doctor appointment next week and asked us if we would like to go to a few appointments with her in the future. She told us that she thought we might really like to hear the baby's heartbeat. Are you joking? Of course we would love that!!! She didn't ask us a lot of questions about us because she felt like she already knew us from reading our profile so many times. When we left, she said she will email us on Monday after her doctor appointment. (I created a special email just for her.) We feel so at peace with this situation! She's a great person and we're looking forward to getting to know her more and more in the next several months. 

You're probably wondering when "we're due". We'll know more details next week, but she thinks it will be between mid-December and early January. Please keep her and us in your prayers. We are over the moon excited! 

Oh, if you happen to be a Facebook user please don't congratulate us or make any big announcements over there on our behalf. ;) 

Here we go again...

Mark can't stop himself when he gets the urge to remodel. He promises that this bathroom project will only take 1-2 months. I will settle for November. :)

Who Loves Corn on the Cob?

Rachelle does! :)

During her last visit, she was on a food strike. Tonight was a totally different story! She ate a few bites of baby back pork ribs, a hard boiled egg, broccoli, hybrid zucchini-squash, cheese, and a banana for dessert. The girl was drunk on food by the end and giggling and pointing at the banana slices saying, "nana, nana." Dinner time seems like it can be a lot of fun with a 17 month old! 

I had cut corn off the cob for her, but she was interested in mine on the cob so we decided to let her try it out. (Don't mind me, I was working in the garden for a few hours.) ;)  You can also hear Sheba panting in the background. I think she wanted the corn too! 

The Latest Fashion

Check out Sheba's new "must have" piece. She's ready for the catwalk. Wait just one minute... isn't that a bit prejudice? :)  Maybe that's why she looks dejected. She knows she'll never make it on America's Next Top Model. Oh, that's not a look of dejection! That's her "pouty model" look. Good thinking, Sheba!

If you're in the market for a cute dog collar, check out sugarplumcollars on Etsy. She made ours to order with two D-rings at no extra cost. I think we paid less than we would have for an ugly one at PetSmart! :)

Same Age Again

Mark celebrating his 35th birthday with Life Group friends.

Of course we served his favorite flavor... orange!

Thank you Mindy for requiring party hats. :)

Happy Birthday, Mark!

Praying for Jes

I asked you all to pray for my friend, Jes, a few posts ago. I just wanted to update you that she has received some answers. Please continue praying for her and her sweet family. I would rather send you to read the update in her words: Life's Little Pin Pricks. She is amazing and reminds us all that no matter what our situation, ultimately God will be glorified.

UPDATE: Jesica is being admitted via the ER today (Friday). She'll be there thru Monday. She'll have a spinal tap and then start treatment. Pray. :)

Our First Sleep Over

Rachelle stayed with us over night on Friday for the first time. I think she had a great time with Aunt Stephanie & Uncle Mark. :) 

Friday night she helped me cook dinner.

Saturday we played on the swing set for a bit.
And then we checked out all the flowers.
I think that she spent 71% of her time asleep. ;) She's the perfect guest and is welcome anytime!

 

Fire or Smoke Signal?

At Life Group tonight, we shared a prayer request and one of the couples asked if we had heard the story about when your "Hut's on Fire." We had not, so they told us this story (which I googled to share with you)...

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. Stranded and deathly afraid, he prayed feverishly for God to rescue him.

Every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood and dried grasses to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions. One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, with smoke rolling up to the sky. He felt the worst had happened, and everything was lost. He was stunned with disbelief, grief, and anger. He cried out, “God! How could you do this to me?”

Early the next day, he was awakened by the sound of a ship approaching the island. It had come to rescue him! “How did you know I was here?” asked the weary man of his rescuers. “We saw your smoke signal,” they replied.

I can't tell you how much we are looking forward to the call telling use, "we saw your smoke signal." Thank you Carl & Cindy for sharing this with us! 

Sightseeing

Here are the two sites we saw the most on our 4 day whirlwind trip to Phoenix. 

We remembered to take these few photos during our final hours of our trip yesterday. You should have seen how overgrown everything was in the front yard before we spent 5 hours in the 100+ degrees trimming and weeding. Don't worry, we drank about 6 bottles of water each that one afternoon! Besides yard work, we cleaned, painted, fixed some plumbing issues, and had measurements taken for new carpet for the entire house. It was quite a trip! 

We were also able to spend an evening with our friends Shane & Jes (see Jes - husband is first. LOL) and their super well-behaved and cute kids. They gave us free reign of their garage to borrow any tools that we may need. I love good friends! Thanks, guys!!!

We met our new tenants and they will be awesome! They are such a lovely family and most importantly, they love the Lord. I just know they will take great care of our house! They have said thank you about a million times already for the new carpet and it's not even installed yet. That was something they really weren't expecting. 

We dined at two of our "regular" spots: The Keg and Shanghai. Oh, and we found a new favorite breakfast place: The Good Egg. (It's similar to Le Peeps.) We decided our meals would be our "vacation" portion of the trip. :)

As an after-thought we took one final photo of us in front of our house.

God at work

... through blogs.

When we lived in Phoenix, I met a wonderful neighbor whom I am honored to call my friend. We actually briefly met on the street before Mark and I moved when we were visiting and home hunting. She told us how great the neighborhood was, etc. It turned out we didn't buy the house across the street from her, but around the bend instead. When we moved in, she knocked on our door and was greeted by a crazy St. Bernard and a tired lady who had been unpacking all day and probably looked disheveled (ok, I'm sure I looked worse than disheveled). I didn't even invite her in! She, not knowing if we were church-going people, invited me to a neighborhood women's bible study that was just starting up. Jesica led the Precepts Bible Study (Having A Real Relationship With God) and it was amazing! This was my first experience with a Precept study and let me say that it truly is an awesome way to dig (and I mean dig deep) into God's word. 

Ok, so you get the idea... Jesica is a special friend whom I treasure. I'm still learning from her. She posts some very meaningful entries on her blog and  is always raw and honest with where she is in the moment. If you have a minute, would you mind praying for her now? She has an undiagnosed health issue she is battling and we are praying her doctor's will find the reason behind a brain lesion recently found in an MRI. 

I guess I wasn't done yet. ;) Now that you've "met" Jesica and prayed for her I'll get to the main story I wanted to share. 

Our current renters have a lease that expires at the end of May. We really didn't want to hire a realtor again to find new tenants because of the extra cost and rent prices seems to drop every year as it is. We planned to post an ad on Craigslist to generate some interest. We were still in the planning process for advertising when I visited Jesica's blog. I read an entry and went to leave a comment when I noticed a comment from someone else. I don't know why, but I clicked on the gal's link and checked out her blog. I read a few entries when BAM she wrote, "Okay, so we found out this weekend that we have to move out for sure at the end of May or June because our landlord..." Whoa! I thought, "Why not?", and left a comment asking if they had found a new rental yet and that I was a friend of Jes's and we own a rental home in the neighborhood. I left her my email and thought if she contacts me cool.

She did, she emailed me that day! I will spare you all of the details, but within 4 days they visited the house and a week later we sent them a lease and they returned it with all the deposits we require.  This may not seem like a big deal to you reading this, but let me say this is such an answered prayer for us! First, our neighborhood is over-saturated with foreclosures and rental homes are in abundance. Second, we have been praying for trustworthy, honest tenants since we are so many miles away. What we found out, was that this family had also been praying for Christian landlords who are honest and forthright, as well. 

We are flying out next weekend to get the house ready for their move-in and are looking forward to meeting the new caretakers of our Phoenix house. They have three children and are due with their fourth in just a few weeks. It's funny because when we bought that house we bought it with the intentions of it being large enough to house a family with a few kids. (We thought we'd be there awhile.) Well, now it's happening. Our house is going to be filled with a family of 6! 

See, the Lord works mysteriously... even online. :) 

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." -- James 1:17

Mid-May already?

It seems that May is flying by!  It's been a busy few weeks for us so here's a recap...

May 4th -- We had the back deck power-washed and stained. It needed it and we're very pleased with the results.

Do you see that grass? Mark has worked really hard to achieve these thick, green results! :)

May 6th -- Stephanie turned 35. eek! Mark surprised me with reservations downtown at The Oceanaire. We were treated well! Here's the menu for the night...

May 8th -- We babysat Rachelle at our house while Matt & Ashli enjoyed a dinner out with friends. That was a whirlwind evening all on it's own. M&A dropped Rachelle off at 5:30pm and I had gotten home from work about 15 mins earlier. Once Mark got home I passed Rachelle off to him while I cooked our dinner. He started feeding her while I finished preparing our meal and then by the time we were all finished eating and were cleaned up it was Rachelle's normal bedtime. I took her upstairs to get her changed and thought we would play a bit but she was already tired so I read her a book and put her down. She was asleep in the crib before I even made it to the stairs! When I looked at the clock 2 hours had gone by. Wow, that was fast!

May 10th -- Mark and I enjoyed our first 11 mile bike ride of the season after church. When we got home we grilled out for lunch and then spotted a beautiful sunny patch in the backyard that we thought would be the perfect place for an afternoon nap. :) Sheba joined us as well.

May 17th -- The Mulchman (Terry McMillan) delivered and spread 6 yards of mulch to beautify our flower beds and play area. Remember I did it last year? We decided it was well worth it to have the mulchman take care of it this year. He did a beautiful job!!

Enjoy our blooming iris, we sure are!